The Problem With Masquerade Balls
by My Hopeless Romantic
Summary: They hated each other but…he lifted his hands and rested his fingers on her mask. Her heart beat raced in a panic at the disappointment she would see on his face once she was revealed. "Wait, how about we play a game?" #5
1. Statistics

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Gakuen Alice. Nor do I own the Harry Potter series. They rock too much to be mine.

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A Harry Potter meets Gakuen Alice. **A Harry Alice**: The best of both worlds.

**Summary:**

Alice Academy is closed to all students and is used, instead, as a prison for Alice fugitives and evil doers so where do the Alice students go? Hogwarts of course! It wasn't common knowledge but being Alices meant they had a form of magic flowing through their veins. Making unsuspecting friends and blossoming relationships in the strangest manner, our crew is divided into their respective houses, Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff.

Ugly relationships-break ups, an unforgettable masquerade ball, masked strangers, and blossoming love. A new adventure unravels…

**Statistics:**

**Name: **Mikan Sakura  
**Alice: **Nullification and Stealing Alice  
**House: **Gryffindor  
**Personality: **A smart bookworm. Mikan hates Natsume and likewise, he hates her. They are constantly at each other's throats and neither likes to back down in front of the other. She isn't popular but has a few good friends. She is defiant to all and doesn't care about people judging her. She is confident and emanates charisma. She gets a lot of attention, though she doesn't care much for it. She loves her Alice very much and mastered it with ease. She likes protecting others and she cares for her friends a lot. She likes helping others. She isn't a show off and is usually a nice and cheerful individual. She excels at almost everything that she does and believes that you can do anything as long as you put your mind to it. She pities people that feel the need to follow others and is determined to help people to become confident and like being themselves. She is admired by many.

**Name: **Natsume Hyuuga  
**Alice: **Fire Alice  
**House: **Slytherin  
**Personality:** He hates Mikan Sakura with a passion that cannot be denied. He takes any opportunity to torment Mikan and tries to put her down as much as possible but she doesn't seem to bow down to him. He is a smart boy though he doesn't try. He is well respected with his fan girls and even fan boys. He is listed as an enemy to Mikan. He abuses his Fire Alice a lot, to warn people about him. He likes to feel superior and is interested in flashy things. He likes befriending people that are of power or have the same personality as him and he cares deeply about his reputation. He emits charisma as well as a powerful aura of confidence that can be shown in his everyday walk or the intense gaze of his ruby red eyes. He is startlingly handsome.

**Name: **Ruka Nogi  
**Alice: **Animal Pheromone Alice  
**House: **Hufflepuff  
**Personality: **A gentle and timid blue-eyed boy. He's one of Mikan's only good friends. He respects Natsume Hyuuga but thinks that his friendship with Mikan is much better than trying to put her down everyday. He is kind and loyal which is what a true Hufflepuff student must be and he doesn't like to show off or have attention placed on him. Everyone likes him because he is easy to talk to and easy to get along with.

**Name: **Hotaru Imai  
**Alice: **Invention Alice  
**House: **Ravenclaw  
**Personality: **A smart inventor that will stop at nothing to get some fast cash. She is really smart but not smarter than Mikan though they are neck in neck. She is another friend of Mikan's because they've been together since childhood. She is seemingly greedy and icy to others. She is interested in the wizarding banking system, fast cash, investments, and of course her beloved inventions. She isn't a loner really, but others are intimidated to go near her. Other than that, she is a lovely person.

**Name:** Kokoro Yome  
**Alice:** Mind Reading Alice  
**House: **Gryffindor  
**Personality:** An annoying but lovable and funny boy that is one of Mikan's closest friends because of his easy going and relaxed attitude that lightens her up. He's loyal and just a boy that annoys many to no end by reading the minds of the Hogwarts students.

**Name:** Sumire Shouda  
**Alice:** Cat-dog Alice  
**House:** Slytherin  
**Personality:** An annoying, clingy girl that worships the ground that Natsume and Draco Malfoy walk on. She is one of Natsume's sidekicks and has mastered the role of the evil witch, though she is anything but. She really values her friendships, though she knows that she doesn't have true friends. She's misunderstood and above all, wants somebody that can relate. Overall, not a bad girl.

**Name:** Yuu Tobita  
**Alice:** Illusion Alice  
**House:** Ravenclaw  
**Personality: **A responsible and caring boy that is both smart and mature for his age. He cares very much about his friends and studies. He excels at school.

**Name:** Otonashi Yuri  
**Alice:** Divination Alice  
**House:** Gryffindor  
**Personality: **A moody average girl that is interested in weird things. Her favorite subject in Hogwarts is Divination.

**Name:** Mochiage or Mochu  
**Alice:** Levitation Alice  
**House:** Slytherin  
**Personality: **A mindless drone that lives only to protect Natsume Hyuuga or help intimidate people for him. He knows only to mutter incoherently with his best friend Kitsuneme. He doesn't do well in school and doesn't like anybody that isn't in Slytherin.

**Name:** Aoi Yuki  
**Alice:** Fire Alice  
**House:** Gryffindor  
**Personality: **A cute girl that has no relations to Natsume Hyuuga. I changed her last name, or rather, separated her name. She is very clever and brave. She likes giving people chances and believes that there is good in everyone. She becomes a great friend to Mikan in later chapters.

**Name:** Kitsuneme  
**Alice:** Flying Alice  
**House:** Slytherin  
**Personality: **Another one of Natsume's mindless drones that do whatever Natsume tells him to do. He doesn't like anyone that isn't Slytherin and likes using his massive biceps to intimidate others.

**Name:** Youichi Hijiri  
**Alice:** Demon Casting Alice  
**House:** Slytherin  
**Personality: **A clever little boy that grows up to be a Natsume Hyuuga look alike. He is smart and funny, though silent. A cutie for all of the girls old or young. He doesn't trust anyone though, and doesn't care about anyone except Natsume, his role model. Though Natsume doesn't approve of any relations with Mikan, Youichi stands by Mikan and befriends her early on in the story.

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Takes place, mostly, while everyone is in their seventh year.

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:)

_My Hopeless Romantic_


	2. Dangerous Duos

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gakuen Alice, nor the wonderful Harry Potter series. Tachibana Higuchi does, ofcourse~!

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Pandemonium comes with strangers in masks.

**Chapter One: Dangerous Duos**

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The North Astronomy Tower was empty, safe for two lone figures. The stars were out, dancing above in the dark night sky and there was only the rare cloud in the black canvas. The Forbidden Forest looked menacing and vast with mysterious creatures lurking among the shadows and the midnight moon cast an eerie glow upon Hogwarts' grounds.

A woman with bushy, dirty blonde hair stood, hovering in the air, her large bug round glasses sitting sloppily on her face on the bridge of her nose. Her eyes were glazed over, her necklaces, bracelets and heavy bangles dangling around her neck and arms. Her green hunter shawl was wrapped sloppily over her shoulders.

In front of her, an old white bearded man sat on a purple bean bag seat, his hands clasped in wonder in his lap as he stared, transfixed at his fellow professor. His light blue eyes were twinkling with interest and his ears lapped up the cold and glazed voice, coming from the fraud Seer before him.

For the third time in her life, Professor Trelawney was making a real prediction.

_Two couples from two different parts of the world walk the Earth as enemies. _

_As they are brought together under unusual circumstances,_

_an unforgettable event will leave all four individuals thrown into confusion with masked identities._

_When brought together,_

_a power, so strong, will aid in the downfall of the utmost evil._

With a loud croak, Trelawney's vast aura clouded and she slumped onto the floor in a pile of limbs. Her glasses skidded across the ground and her body lay unmoving, its owner unconscious.

The man's silver beard twitched just the slightest to make room for the small, mischievous smile that flashed across his lips. With sparkling blue eyes, he sat back down on his bean bag chair and toyed with a long, thin stick. It rolled easily between his fingers like a small wonder, just like the prophecy.

-;-

"I've had enough of you, Hyuuga! You are nothing but a conceited, arrogant _jerk_!"

A dark smile made its way onto the boys lips before he drawled scathingly, "I wouldn't talk if I were you. Sakura, you're just a spoiled, unwanted geek. If you stepped away from the books once in a while, you might be lucky to turn out like Shouda here," he gestured to the girl on his right with a jerk of his head and Mikan grimaced in disgust.

Mochu and Kitsuneme were standing on either side of Natsume Hyuuga, the raven haired stud. Their bulky builds and tall figures towered over her, their arms crossed over their chests like bodyguards, looking intimidating and ugly.

Standing opposite the four intimidating persons, stood a defiant brown haired girl, though as short as she stood, her eyes and her determined stature made her look as tall as her verbal attackers. Her long brown wavy hair skimmed the middle of her back and the side bangs brushing and covering her right eye were pushed roughly aside showing brown, sparkling eyes that were set glaring at the group before her. Her expression was cool and observing.

Beside her, stood Kokoro Yome and Ruka Nogi, as well as a cool looking Hotaru Imai, that was sitting comfortably on the grass. It had been three months since her arrival to Alice Academy and already, the hate-hate relationship with Natsume Hyuuga had gained her many instant enemies. His fan girls that swooned with every smirk or sneer that played upon his lips, with every casual glance with his stunning ruby eyes and the mere sight of his tanned skin, all sent glares in her direction whenever she passed.

She was mature enough to handle them though, at the age of ten. A direct attack from the problem itself was more than she could take.

Mikan smiled sweetly and said in an angelic voice, "Becoming like Seaweed here is on my list of '_never going to happen until Natsume Hyuuga becomes an angel that rules over dead monkey droppings found on the sea's floor'_. Honestly Hyuuga," Mikan scoffed, "Why would I ever want to be like _her_?"

Sumire's face contorted with anger and her fists clenched tightly. "Why you litt—"

The shrill ringing of the school's bells rang and echoed loudly within the courtyard where they stood, as if warning them to leave the argument as it was. The sound was drawn out, interrupting a stream of colorful curses making their way into Sumire's mind.

"Oops, well there's the bell," Mikan clapped her hands together mock-cheerily. "Permy, you should get some nose plugs or something because I'm kind of worried if you keep sticking your nose up in the air like that, you might drown when it rains."

"Not," Koko piped in, grinning widely.

With large smiles on their faces, safe for Hotaru, they trotted to class. The doors were slid open and the whole of Class 2B was once again, its boisterous and loud self. Paper balls were being thrown into the air, loud chatter filled the air and mock fights were taking place in the corner of the classroom. The four had just made it through the doorway when Jinno cleared his throat loudly and looked around the room.

With a tired breath, he snarled, "Where is Natsume Hyuuga?"

The door was violently thrown open and Mikan couldn't help the roll of her eyes. Mikan turned in time to see the arrogant, aristocratic face that belonged to Natsume Hyuuga himself. It was hard to deny the fact that his features seemed to be carved from ice. He had startlingly ruby red eyes and a killer, surfer body that she'd been privy to once the class had participated in something the school liked to call "Alice Academy Sports Day" where the boy had stripped himself of his shirt and had flashed the washboard abs to the entire female population.

Mikan couldn't help curling her lip in disgust. It just goes to show that looks were completely deceiving where the Hyuuga was involved, she noted inwardly.

He walked into the class with his usual, purposeful stride, his tight knit group of, well, groupies trailed after him with stars in their eyes and pride in their smiles. It was enough to make Mikan frown with disdain. Not the least disconcerted by the dozens of eyes trained on him, Natsume slumped into the back-most seat of the classroom, propping his feet up on the seat in front of him. She rolled her eyes when he unfurled a comic book from his back pocket.

_Typical,_ she mused thoughtfully.

"Mr. Hyuuga," Jinno all but drawled, "You should make it a point to come to class on _time_. I'm sure someone of your stature is capable of _that _at the very least."

Mikan smirked when Natsume narrowed his eyes and she twisted in her seat to beam at the teacher. She'd never really liked Jinno before but with this stunt, perhaps there was hope for him yet. "Put your reading material away, Mr. Hyuuga. Today's class is most probably the last class you'll ever have here."

Instantly, there were murmurs around the room and Natsume reluctantly put down his comic, ruby eyes alight with interest.

Jinno made a signal to Narumi, who sat serenely in his seat and he immediately perked up, his detached expression clearing. He smiled slowly, almost sheepish and said, "Hello."

From the back of the classroom, Natsume made a show of picking up his comic again and muttered, "Spit it out."

Narumi looked around at the students before him but their expressions did not change.

"This may be sudden but Alice Academy will be no more in about a week…" Immediately, a flurry of whispers filled the room and it wasn't until Jinno slapped his whip against the teacher's desk, did silence ensue once more. "Alice Academy," Narumi continued, "—is evacuating all students and teachers this Friday to use the school as a maximum security prison. So pack your bags!"

Mikan winced at the mock-enthusiasm in her favorite teacher's voice and couldn't help the whirlwind of thoughts that immediately plagued her mind. "Where will we go, Narumi-sensei?" she asked, fiddling with the hard cover of her book.

Narumi smiled wanly, "That's the most important aspect of the move. Admittance into Alice Academy, I'm sure you know, is very difficult. It depends solely on the fact that you have an Alice or not." He scrutinized innocent, cherub faces before sighing, "We use the term 'Alice blood' to separate everyone having an Alice and those that don't. We've just gotten word from the Headmaster of Hogwarts that those with Alice blood, meaning everyone in this school, has magic in their blood too."

Narumi closed his eyes and rubbed his temples.

"That's stupid," Natsume drawled blandly. "We're Alices. Nothing more, nothing less."

"That's not true," Narumi returned calmly, directing his velvet gaze on the speaker. "We _are _more."

"What are you saying, Narumi-sensei?" Sumire cut in. "What's this supposed to mean?"

"It means," Narumi folded his arms, "—that you're all witches and wizards and there's only one place that we can go to." He looked pointedly at Natsume and murmured, "We're going to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

-;-

News spread like wildfire across the Academy grounds and teachers were quick to exchange the school currency, rabbits, for wizarding money. Their bags and suitcases were told to be packed and students scrambled into their rooms to gather toiletries, reading material and prized possessions. Every class took it in turns to go to Diagon Alley by Portkey to get their school supplies and breathe in the fresh air outside of the Alice Academy gates.

Diagon Alley was filled with Alice students, milling around with their little pouches of coins toward the wizarding market to buy their books for classes like Transfiguration and Potions. Quills, ink bottles and school clothes were bought and flying off the shelves at an alarming rate. The world, apparently, wasn't _au courant_ with the news just yet. Then again, Alice students could barely care less.

Mikan, having mastered her Nullification Alice at a young age and being the smart, top student and bookworm that she was, had a sack full of wizarding money to spend. Her dying parents had left a mountain of money in their will for her to inherit and she left for the wizarding bank, Gringotts, immediately, to exchange a handful of money into wizarding currency.

Soon, she was walking out of the shops with bags of supplies for Hogwarts as well as an owl, her first, that she christened, Hadelius. Her arms were heavy with bags and her eyes trailed the length of the streets to alight on a lone store, Ollivander's Wand shop. No magic for beginner's could be done without a wand, after all.

Mikan peered into the dark windows of the shop before stepping gingerly into the store, her feet taking her immediately to the counter. The shop seemed to be deserted, the air was warm and musty. She couldn't help the crawl of her skin at the strange atmosphere.

"Hello?" she called uncertainly.

A clamor of noise from the back made her spine straighten and soon, a warm, olive skinned man emerged from behind the bookcases filled with boxes. He was a short, balding man with a toothy smile and mysterious silvery eyes and he flashed her a wan smile before asking, "Looking for a wand, are you?"

"Yes, sir."

"You're a first year, I'm sure." He scrutinized her, spending a long time looking at her hand before smiling, "Do you know how to find out if a wand is right for you?" he questioned slyly, already looking through the small boxes.

Mikan frowned before answering, "It chooses its own master, doesn't it?"

Surprised, the Ollivander's eyes twinkled before he clapped his hands. "Bright girl! How'd you know something like that?"

"It was something I read," she murmured unsurely.

"What's your name, miss?" he asked, taking a number of boxes from different shelves behind the counter.

"Mikan Sakura, sir," she replied automatically, watching in a daze as he piled the boxes on the counter and removed the coverings of the box.

"Well Ms. Sakura. My name's Mr. Ollivander and I'm the only wand master in Britain. You can put your utmost faith in me and we'll definitely find you the perfect wand!" As if to reinforce his words, he pulled out a long stick from the box and smiled, saying slowly,

"Eleven and a half inches long, made of elder and the hair of a unicorn."

Mikan felt a dark shock of electricity run through her body at the contact but Ollivander shook his head almost immediately, shoving the wand back into its box before slipping out another. This practice continued for quite some time in which he would tell her the core of the wand and the wood or material it was portrayed from before placing it into her hand. And even though she almost always felt something strange running through her veins at the contact, he'd shake his head and pull out another.

The mountain of wand boxes lay forgotten in the corner of the counter and Ollivander seemed to get more excited by the minute. A mutter of _'I wonder'_ and he came hobbling back, a sleek black box in hand.

"Eleven inches precisely, flexible. Made of Glowing Oak with a phoenix feather core," he muttered deftly.

Her arm sore from being outstretched, Mikan started becoming restless. It wasn't until she felt a lurch in her stomach did she eye the wand suspiciously. As if it'd come to life, the wand jumped and wriggled on its own accord until it fit snugly in her palm. The end burst with gold sparks before settling with a dark hum.

Ollivander jumped in surprise, clapping his hands. "Excellent! Take tremendous care of that wand, Ms. Sakura!" he squeaked delightedly.

She was in awe as she left the shop and quickly returned to the meeting point, clutching all of her purchases tightly to her chest. One Portkey ride later, she was back in her large but empty bedroom. She tucked all of her new stuff in her trunk and looked out her window to peer anxiously at Alice Academy.

She'd be leaving in a few days and she couldn't keep herself from feeling the rising anticipation to step into her new school.

-;-

The day of September first came in a flash and every student from Alice Academy had Portkey'd to King's Cross Station where many other kids and teenagers were seen pushing trolleys with caged owls and packed trunks, mingling in the crowd. Mikan watched as a pair of identical red haired twins disappeared through a wall separating platforms nine and ten. A few others did the same and she quickly led Koko to the same wall.

"Okay, listen to me Koko," she hushed quietly, "—we're going to walk through that wall right there. Don't worry, everyone's doing it."

"Don't succumb to peer pressure, Mikan," Koko said appalled. "We do what we want, not what everyone else is doing!"

"Just do what I do," she returned hastily at his doubtful expression.

Reluctantly, the two walked confidently up to the wall and awaited the impact but to their surprise, their eyes met with a huge red train billowing tufts of grey smoke. _'The Hogwarts Express'_ was painted brightly in yellow.

Sighing in relief, she trudged up the steps to the train and with the help of a boy with glasses and an oddly shaped scar on his forehead, Mikan brought her trunk into a compartment with a caged Hadelius in her hand. Sharing the compartment was a red haired, gangly boy with pronounced freckles and a curly brown haired girl with prominent big teeth, apparently showing some magic with her wand.

The brown haired boy turned around to her and set her trunk on the ground and held out his hand.

"My name is Harry Potter, by the way. These two are my friends. Ron and Hermione," he said, pointing to each in turn.

She smiled, _if only everyone was this nice_, she thought, an image of Natsume flickering across her mind. "Hi. My name's Mikan Sakura."

The compartment was filled with light chatter but soon, the door slid open and a boy with blond hair, slicked back with gel, popped up with two bulky figures flanking his sides.

_Looks like I'm not the only one making friends, _Mikan through dryly, frowning at Natsume's smug features. She watched as his eyes scanned the room and settled on her, with a smirk.

"Oh," he smirked blandly, eyes mocking. "I see you've found yourself some more geeky friends, hm? Touching," he commented with a light sneer.

"Potter, Potter, Potter," the blond boy repeated with mock stern. "So the rumors _are _true. What a shame to find you mingling with such a pile of rubbish. Why don't you join us and ditch these…freaks. Together, we'll search for power without these… hindrances," he continued, his eyes running over everyone in the compartment.

Harry looked up and said coolly, "The only freaks I happen to see are you four."

Natsume's eyes lingered on him and ruby eyes narrowing darkly, he shrugged a shoulder, "Watch your tongue."

He snapped his fingers and the edge of Harry's robes caught with a burst of fire. The flames were licking them with a fiery intensity and Mikan stood abruptly, glaring at him long and hard. He returned the stare with a cool one of his own while Ron tried vainly to put out the fire.

"Stop fooling around," Mikan hissed quietly, "—and put those flames _out_, Hyuuga."

She was interrupted by the blond boy who immediately snagged Natsume's shirt and commenting in delight, "Wow, Nat. You didn't tell us you could manage _that_."

Mikan glanced at the boy with dark eyes before staring at Natsume. "Put them out," she ordered, "—or _I _will." Her voice was dark with promise.

"Could you?" the blond boy mocked extensively. "Those fires are unstoppable! Look, even pauper Weasley has gotten caught!"

She glared at him and couldn't help notice that he was devastatingly handsome. _Why were all of the insolent prats so good-looking,_ she thought.

Turning to Harry and Ron, she snapped her fingers twice and extinguished the flames instantly.

"Spoil sport," Natsume muttered.

"Get _out_," she hissed.

The blond boy looked at her and then drifted to the rest. He smirked charmingly and stuffed his hands in his pockets, "I'm Draco Malfoy," he replied smoothly. "I suggest you don't get in my way or think about messing with me or you'll deeply regret it. I'll see to that," he warned nonchalantly. Mikan looked at him incredulously as he turned around. "Crabbe, Goyle, let's go."

From behind them, Kitsuneme and Mochu appeared and followed Natsume in a different direction before Malfoy called out, "Hey Hyuuga! Let's talk."

Mikan heaved a sigh and sat down, deftly ignoring the stares in her direction. Only Koko smiled at her encouragingly.

"What?" she asked in exasperation.

"How… you… those flames… snapped your fingers and poof… out." Ron rubbed his hand over his eyelids and stared at her. "How…"

She covered her face with her hands and looked between her fingers at their looks of wonder. She knew that she'd be asked about their Alices sooner or later but she hadn't actually thought that it'd be this soon. She leaned back in her seat and finally explained.

"I've read all about you people. You're wizards and witches. Half bloods, purebloods and muggleborns are what you consist of," Mikan started. "Well, from my old school… we're different. We have… _oh, you're not going to believe me…_ special gifts, if you will," she finished uncertainly, looking up at their incredulous gazes.

Hermione was the only one that didn't look so surprised. She looked more curious than anything and urged her to continue explaining. "Oh, c'mon Ron, it's not _that _farfetched. You saw the fellow with the fire, didn't you?" she said in response to his disbelieving stare.

They nodded hesitantly and Hadelius listened quietly in her cage.

"Well from my school, we're called Alices. We all have a special power, whether it's Speed, Invention, or even Animal Control. That boy you just saw, he's such a wanker," she added lowly, "—he has the Fire Alice. Very powerful. He's such a prat, he always scares people with it even though it's dangerous. That stupid conceited bastard…"

Harry cut off her stream of insults, "What's yours?"

"Mine?" she asked in surprise. Offhandedly, she replied, "Nullification. I can stop them from using their Alices, not forever mind you, just when they use it."

"So you guys know magic too?" Hermione asked skeptically. "Does that put you at a greater advantage than us?"

"Surprisingly, yes; we've been told that we can perform magic. I'm not so sure we're at an advantage though…"

"Do you know your blood status?" Ron asked curiously. "Not that it matters, of course!" he replied as an afterthought.

Mikan laughed. "Oh, yes. If both of your parents have Alices, then you're pureblood and well, it's the same as your way of determining it. If only one parent has an Alice, then you're a half blood. I'm a pureblood," she commented. "My father had the Nullification Alice and my mother had the Alice of…"

The compartment door opened to reveal Hotaru and Ruka. Mikan heaved a sigh of relief at her luck. Introducing Hotaru and Ruka to her new friends, the compartment was filled with boisterous laughter as they all awaited their year at Hogwarts, together.

It was now six years later and the start of their seventh year was approaching…

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_My Hopeless Romantic_


	3. Promising Possibilities

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gakuen Alice, nor do I own the wonderful Harry Potter series.

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Pandemonium comes with strangers in masks.

**Chapter Two: Promising Possibilities**

-;-

The sun was slowly rising up past the clouds, high into the skies, marking the dawn of a new day. The leaves fell lethargically to the ground and the wind whistled past the window of a brown and white two storey house.

From along the coast of the forest came twin specks of brown and thoughtful eyes watched as they approached from the open window. When they'd come close enough, Mikan threw the windows open as far as they would go and two owls fluttered noisily into her room, dropping two thick envelopes by the foot of her bed. Hooting quietly, Hadelius flew over to nibble softly on Mikan's finger, making a faint smile tug at her lips.

Reaching for the envelopes, one addressed to Hermione J. Granger and the other to herself, Mikan opened her letter and yelped softly when a small golden badge dropped into her palm with the cursive letters _HG_ engraved on it.

Her heart skipped a beat altogether and she couldn't help the bright grin that immediately appeared on her lips. Rushing down the hallway, Mikan burst into Hermione's room, shoving her legs over unceremoniously to jump onto the soft, plush bed, effectively waking the witch from her slumber.

"You will not believe what I just got!" Mikan squealed, too elated to hold in her excitement. Hermione shot her an unamused glare telling her to get on with it when Mikan shoved a thick letter into her hands and shouted, "Open it!"

Blinking rapidly, Hermione furrowed her brow and put a finger in between the lip of the envelope. "This better be what I think it is or you're going to die for waking me up so early…" she threatened half-heartedly.

Ripping the envelope open, Hermione's jaw dropped when she pulled out a shiny golden badge among the pieces of paper. "This is…" Mikan shoved her in the arm playfully before snatching the letter from the bed and pressing it into Hermione's palm. Looking over her shoulder, Mikan read:

_Congratulations, Ms. Hermione Granger._

_The Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has chosen you especially as one of two Head Girls  
as it is your seventh and final year._

_Your impressive grades, maturity, and responsible attitude have aided in your new position.  
Keep up the great work. We, the staff, are trusting you to help enforce discipline in our school.  
Congratulations on top marks in your exams last June!_

_Teaching Unit of Transfiguration  
Gryffindor Head of House  
Professor Minerva McGonagall_

Mikan let a heavy sigh escape her lips before her expression became thoughtful, "Aren't we lucky the Ministry agreed to two sets of Head Boys and Girls?" she asked rhetorically. With the arrival of the Alice students almost seven years prior, not only had the castle been magically expanded, but the amount of Prefects and Heads as well as professors had doubled. Needless to say, many weren't too pleased about the change but for people like Mikan, she could only feel blessed that the both of them had managed to nab the title in their last year.

"Yeah," Hermione agreed. "Though you can't honestly be surprised you got it, Mikan. You're the most lovable thing in the school."

Mikan rolled her eyes, refusing to admit it. "It doesn't matter," she huffed. "No matter how friendly I am, those Slytherins don't like any Gryffindors."

"It can't be helped, really," Hermione shrugged, picking at a loose thread on her bedspread. She turned a serious gaze on the brunette before her and asked, "What's with Ruka? You know, the boyfriend that's been in love with you for years?"

Mikan cringed inwardly. Ruka and she had started dating at the beginning of sixth year and things had recently started getting weird. Of course, he'd been the perfect gentleman when they'd first started going out but their summer correspondence had been rather pointless and he seemed much more preoccupied as of late. She tried to tell herself that it didn't bother her when Ruka refused to maintain eye-contact anymore, either but Mikan knew, she wasn't fooling anyone.

"To be honest?" Mikan bit her lip. "I'm not sure. You're so lucky to have Ron, you know. He's always so sweet and forward with you."

A moment of silence passed before Hermione threw back the covers and swung her legs over the side of her bed. "Well, we have to get ready for school or we're going to miss the train," she declared curtly, dragging her packed trunk from the closet. She looked over her shoulder with bright brown eyes and raised a brow, "If I don't remember correctly, _you _haven't finished packing, missy."

Mikan rolled her eyes. Keeping the badge tight within her grip, she clasped her hands together and stretched them high above her head, muttering, "You worry way too much, Hermione." She eyed the girl with a sly smile on her face before smirking, "You know, I've been wondering…" She saw Hermione's head snap up with interest and continued, "If we're the Head Girls, who are the Head Boys? Hopefully someone we can live with. If they're Slytherins, I'm going to shoot myself."

Hermione grimaced, biting her lip. "Oh God, I hope they're not Slytherins. I'd rather have Ernie MacMillan and Tobita Yuu as our common room buddies than a Slytherin."

"Watch it, Mione. Yuu's a friend of mine, after all," Mikan warned, heading toward the doors.

"And Ernie's mine. I'm just saying, they wouldn't be my first choices," Hermione reiterated patiently. "Now pack up before we're late."

After spending a month with her ailing grandfather in Japan, Mikan had come to stay at the Granger household since Hotaru was currently on vacation with her parents and brother. That aside, Hermione had many similarities with Mikan. Mikan's hunger for books, the need to excel, studies and the want for acceptance were part of the list of many, though Hermione always managed to prove smarter in class.

Unlike Hermione, Mikan didn't raise her hand in class much and didn't like to participate in class discussions unless she was called upon, in which she would constantly answer the questions correctly or provide a diverse debate on several occasions. Maybe her lack of being a know-it-all in class was the reason why Professor Snape didn't pick on her the way he picked on Hermione. She didn't feel the need to prove herself in class.

Shaking her head, Mikan looked at the billowing plumes of grey and the Hogwarts Express before saying a hasty '_thank you'_ and _'goodbye' _to Hermione's parents for the wonderful stay, letting the family have their moment of goodbyes, to find a compartment for the rest of the gang.

As she was hoisting her trunk into an empty compartment, Hermione came in, followed by a cute girl with blue eyes and dark midnight blue hair by the name of Aoi Yuki, a sixth year.

"Hey!" Mikan said happily, giving the small girl a one armed hug. "How've you been?"

"Good, Mikan! Before we get into our summers," Aoi said airily, "—the both of you are wanted in the Head's compartment. McGonagall wants a word." She winked subtly like she knew something they didn't and lowered her voice, "Congratulations, by the way. Though I can't say I'm very surprised."

She beamed and waved airily before slipping down the corridors. Hermione and Mikan shared a pleased grin before leaving the compartment and heading into the Head's compartment. Sliding the door open, they came into a brightly decorated room where two closets and large mirrors, a coffee table and leather couches adorned the room.

They walked into the room and immediately spotted the grey haired lady they'd met six years ago. Her glasses perched on the bridge of her nose, her back ramrod straight, shoulders back and hands clasped tightly before her as she stared intently at the two girls. Wrinkles appeared around her eyes as she let a rare, small smile grace her strict features.

"I'm sure the both of you will make Gryffindor proud this year," she said softly, with a hint of affection in her tone. All too soon, it changed from affectionate to serious, "As I'm certain you both know, you'll be sharing a common room with the chosen Head Boys with your separate rooms." She looked from Mikan to Hermione, eyes boring into theirs. "Two bathrooms will be shared amongst the four of you and I expect no disturbances or conflicts to set an example for the rest of the school."

Pausing in her speech, McGonagall looked expectantly at Mikan when she asked, "Professor? May I ask if you know who the Head Boys are?" Mikan watched as McGonagall narrowed her eyes, almost looking affronted before settling on suspicion.

"I do," she replied curtly. "The staff help choose, after all." Eyeing the both of them, her lips thinned and she responded demurely, "You two will not find out until the feast tonight. I trust you haven't told anyone of your positions?"

Mikan's face fell before she mumbled along with Hermione, "No, Professor."

"Good. The reason I've called you two," she started, looking pointedly at Mikan, "—is to inform you of the Moonday Masquerade Ball that will be held in two weeks time. You are to inform all sixth and seventh year students of this event," she said briskly. "We're aware that it seems inconvenient but there will be two Hogsmeade weekends specifically for them to do their shopping or to get their garments shipped to Hogwarts. More than enough time," she mused as an afterthought. Blinking out of her thoughts, McGonagall straightened up, clasping her hands together, "I'm sure you can contact the majority of the seventh and sixth years before we head to Hogwarts and if not, rumors will handle the rest. Good day."

She turned around and made her way to the door before stopping abruptly, "There are some gowns in the Head Girl's closet beside you, Ms. Granger. Choose to your liking." The door slid shut shortly after and Mikan burst into smiles.

"A masquerade _ball_!" she twirled around with a large grin on her face. "Can you believe how romantic that'd be?" she sighed, taking a hold of Hermione's arm and raising her arm as she would to display a screen. "Imagine this, Ruka and me, gliding down the main stairs with my arm inked with his in a dazzling blue gown…" She shivered with delight.

Hermione scoffed. "Don't be silly. We'll talk about your fantasies later but right _now, _we have to inform the others. You know, our Head _duty_," Hermione reminded tersely, heading to the door. "You really don't focus well with these kinds of issues, Mikan."

"Hey, wait a second!" Mikan shouted.

Hermione turned towards the anxious girl and stared at her dreamy state, with a sigh. "What is it?"

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Mikan sang slyly, heading towards the closet. "We're supposed to pick a gown and to be honest, I have nothing at home. We might as well see what they've got provided…" Mikan stopped mid-sentence and reached into the closet with an awed expression. "Wow, these are beautiful…"

-;-

She didn't mind. Really, she didn't.

Oh, who was she kidding? Of course she minded!

After the girls had gone around to inform the seventh and sixth years about the ball, (most of the girls giggled with excitement, squealed in agony of the short notice or swooned at the thought of the sexy Natsume Hyuuga or Draco Malfoy of Slytherin House being their dates), the train had stopped. Hermione and Ron were together somewhere and here she was, Head Girl of Gryffindor House, Mikan Sakura, alone in the bustling crowd.

She frowned as she pulled her cloak around her, the cold biting at her sensitive skin as she waited for Ruka.

_Honestly, where was the boy?_

They'd agreed to meet up when the train stopped in order to head up to the castle together, so where was he? Did he forget? She quickly dispelled the thought and frowned. She'd made sure to remind him minutes before the train stopped.

_He's probably busy again,_ she thought bitterly. What was he playing at?

With a huff, Mikan started weaving her way through the crowd, calling out his name once in a while. It was hardly a surprise when she never heard a reply. At the back of her mind, Mikan couldn't help but worry. _Where was he?_

Running a hand through her chestnut locks (a signature move that displayed her distress), Mikan looked around, blowing warm breaths into her hand to keep the blood flowing regularly. The crowd was dwindling down and still, he wasn't there. Could he have left without her perhaps? She rubbed her pale hands together and blew on them to warm them up again, looking at the distant castle.

"He forgot," she said sadly, brushing hair from her face and heading toward the castle. She bent her head against the gusts of wind and couldn't help her sigh of disappointment. _He'd forgotten…again._

_What's wrong with him lately?_ _Surely he would tell her if something was wrong… wouldn't he?_ Mikan was so deep into her thoughts, she was startled to her bones when she collided, head first, into another, solid body.

Vaguely aware that she was sprawled on the cold, hard ground, Mikan groaned. "Ouch," she muttered softly, looking at the palms of her hands covered with dirt, scratches and blood. She took out her wand and immediately cleaned up her hands before looking up.

She blanched.

"Watch your step, Sakura," Natsume drawled blandly.

Her eyes narrowed instantly. At the back of her mind, she thought of the injustice of it all that a man like Natsume could look so damn _good._ His hair was perfectly messy, shadowing his face and bright red eyes to the smallest perfection. He had high cheekbones and the darkness of the night only made him more appealing and mysterious. She bit down the disgust.

She sighed resignedly before standing up. Brushing the dirt and grime from her clothes once more, Mikan started the short walk to the school, a safe distance behind the Hyuuga and his friends.

_Ruka, I love you and all, but I really wish you weren't such a jerk enough to not be here with me instead of gallivanting somewhere else with your mind in the clouds…_

"If you're looking for Ruka, he's off with your best friend," drawled a bland voice from ahead of her. Surprised, Mikan's eyes rested on the Hyuuga's still form. "He's taken quite a liking to her, if you ask me."

"No one asked you," Mikan snapped immediately. She knew what he was insinuating but Ruka? Ruka would never do that and Hotaru wouldn't dare. They were best friends, after all.

He shrugged, unaffected and continued on his way.

It seemed as though a dark cloud loomed over her at that precise moment and started raining. The lightening and thunder crackled overhead. She just stood there, in the dark, the shadows of Hyuuga and his friends disappearing slowly towards the school. She was alone as she looked up slowly at the sky.

It was a menacing grey color.

She wondered briefly if the sky was purposefully reflecting on her mood. Trudging up the stairs of the school, Mikan shook her head and mentally laughed at herself.

Honestly, the Hyuuga didn't know anything about her and Ruka. Pay no heed to one that knows nothing.

Before she knew it, she had already reached the stairs and climbed up to the Entrance Hall. The Great Hall was packed and she knew she had to get to her seat soon before the new first years came through the doors. Glancing at the Gryffindor table, she locked gazes with Hermione whose face instantly cleared from worry to annoyance. She had probably been wondering where she had gone off to.

She smiled a sad smile of reassurance and then glanced at the Hufflepuff table where Ruka was already sitting. His back was to her, though and instead, he was turned around in his seat talking to Hotaru Imai. The latter looked away and pretended not to be listening when evidently, she was. The light blush that crept across her cheeks didn't go unnoticed by Mikan either.

She sighed and made her way towards the Gryffindor table, her grey and moody atmosphere in step behind her. She passed the Slytherin table and Natsume Hyuuga himself looked up from his seat to see her walking dejectedly past.

Sitting down beside Hermione, Mikan looked expectantly to the front and frowned at Hermione's curious gaze.

"I'll tell you later okay?"

Hermione didn't look pleased but only acquiesced when McGonagall walked to the front with first years trailing after her. The Sorting Hat sat poised and elegant on the stool in the middle and she felt her stomach stirring with excitement for the first years lining up at the front.

The Sorting ended with older students making room for the new ones (fiddling and shy). The males called out impatiently for the food to appear whereas the females talked animatedly together.

Dumbledore, the aged Headmaster, stood with his arms raised and immediately, a hush fell upon the students. He smiled charmingly, "To all of the new students of Hogwarts, welcome! To all of our older students, welcome back! It will be another enjoyable and magical year this year and we hope you will be well behaved and enjoy your stay here at Hogwarts. I have important news about the rules and regulations, the upcoming Hogsmeade trips, the Moonday Masquerade Ball that will be held for the sixth and seventh years only, and of course the Heads of this year, but right now is not the time."

His eyes twinkled merrily as he smiled. "Right now, I have two words and two words only," he winked knowingly, "Tuck in."

With a roar of approval, the plates and goblets filled with treacle tarts and Butterbeer as all of the students started to pick and gobble down their meals. Ron splattered stew onto his robes and started cussing loudly and Hermione said a simple spell, scolding him for using inappropriate words in front of the younger students. He rolled his eyes and smiled a fake apologetic smile at the first year beside him who scuttled over to sit beside the popular Harry Potter.

"Idiot," Hermione murmured affectionately. Turning away from the redhead, Hermione pierced her with a stern stare before asking, "Where'd you go? Ron and I were looking everywhere!" She leaned in with a small smile on her face and said, "I would've stayed out longer but Ron didn't want to miss dinner. As if we'd miss _that_."

"I was waiting for Ruka," Mikan replied tersely. "Apparently he forgot to wait for me and ran off with my best friends."

Hermione's brow furrowed. "Are you sure? That doesn't seem like Ruka…"

Mikan sighed. "It's not. I guess…" Mikan wracked her brain. "I guess he just forgot to tell me he was going with Hotaru. That's all. He's been really busy lately anyway, so I can understand why… you know." She clasped her hands together uncertainly and soon felt a hand against them.

"I'm sure he has an explanation for it," Hermione said gently. "Don't jump to conclusions… just ask him, okay?"

"Yeah… I know."

Hermione looked like she wanted to add something but Dumbledore was once again standing and with a clap of his hands, the plates were cleared, much to Ron's displeasure.

"Now onto announcements," he declared boldly, blue eyes sweeping the room. "Professor Filch, our caretaker, would like to remind you that magic in the corridors are forbidden. Dungbombs and pranking goodies won't be tolerated and a whole list of other items and behavior are listed in his office.

"Our first Hogsmeade trip is this Sunday," Dumbledore added. "This means sixth and seventh years can either purchase or get their things shipped over before the Moonday Masquerade Ball held in two weeks time."

Mikan could feel his eyes dart over to hers before he announced, "Finally, our Head Boys and Girls." A mischievous smile was on his lips before he spoke serenely, "I'm pleased to say that the Head Girls and Boys this year are truly exceptional and have proved to be responsible and advanced in their magical studies." He clasped his hands together, smiling, "I'm pleased to reveal your Head Girls from the Gryffindor House, Hermione Granger and Mikan Sakura."

Mikan looked down in embarrassment when she heard someone say loudly, "Is that supposed to be surprising?"

Dumbledore cleared his voice again and another hush fell upon the crowd. "I'm also pleased to appoint, from the Slytherin House, Draco Malfoy and Natsume Hyuuga as your new Head Boys."

Mikan felt an electric shock run through her body.

She would be sharing her living quarters with… Draco Malfoy and Natsume Hyuuga?

* * *

_My Hopeless Romantic_


	4. Flagrant Fury

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gakuen Alice, nor do I own the wonderful Harry Potter series.

* * *

Pandemonium comes with strangers in masks.

**Chapter Three: Flagrant Fury  
**

**-;-**

_Impossible_.

The thunderous clapping coming from the Slytherin table and polite applause from the others broke Mikan out of her daze and she felt like an anvil had taken refuge in her stomach. She felt sick. The idea of sharing her living space with those two… _boars_ was absolutely nauseating. There was no physical way she'd be living within twenty meters of those jerks.

Just the thought of Hyuuga's arrogant smirk and Malfoy's cocky grin made a bubbling of bile move up her throat. And if she had to see those two _every single day, _Mikan swore that she wouldn't last the year.

There was just no possible _way_.

With disbelief etched vividly onto her pale face, Mikan looked around in horror and was only vaguely aware of the identical expression of horror on Hermione's face. Harry, who seemed like he just got slapped in the face, leaned towards them and tried to smile sympathetically. "C'mon guys, if there are two people that could possibly handle those two without getting thrown into Azkaban, it'd be you two. You'd find a way to kill them and look innocent."

The statement almost made Mikan laugh.

_Almost._

Ron, on the other hand, looked as though he _literally _got slapped in the face because his cheeks were a dark, flaming red, as were the tips of his ears. Anger didn't even cover it. It was like he couldn't believe his Hermione was going to be living in the same area as the two most sought after boys of the school… and the look on his face screamed _violence_.

With his fists clenched to his sides, Ron stood up indignantly, ready to protest. Everyone else, however, stood up as well and started their lazy trek to their respective dorms. Ron was left, open-mouthed, with indignation before he shot Dumbledore a look of abhorrence, letting himself be dragged away by his best friend. The bustling crowds of students pushed their way towards the Entrance Hall and Prefects led the group of new first years to their dormitories.

The Great Hall was emptying at an alarming rate and Mikan's heart beat started beating faster as she walked with Hermione up to a waiting Professor McGonagall who had beckoned to them. From the other side of the room, the Slytherin Head Boys came strutting over with smug smirks on their faces.

_Honestly, _Mikan scoffed, catching sight of Hyuuga's tall frame advancing slowly towards her. His casual gait and confident strides annoyed her to no end and she couldn't keep the annoying blush from creeping up her cheeks as she observed him from the corner of her eyes.

_Looks aren't everything, Mikan. Looks aren't everything,_ she chanted in her head. But damn it, if he wasn't the most handsome boy she'd ever seen…

She couldn't deny it. His hair itself was a work of art compiled of a dark nest of messy black hair and carefully crafted bangs that fell into his eyes. The longer bangs fell to frame his lightly tanned face and to brush seductively against his angled cheekbones. He had a bone-straight nose, a strong jaw line and damn, who could resist those _eyes_?

She mentally kicked herself. So what if Hyuuga looked like he should be remade into a marble statue with his beauty only matched by that famous _David_. She scoffed. That didn't excuse the disgustingly arrogant personality of his.

To get her mind off of him, Mikan turned to look at her Professor, whom she had always admired for her strict, businesslike manner and the way she could silence a crowd of students with a stern look or a mild cough. All of the students that resided in the school respected the grey haired woman to some degree, including the ignorant Slytherins. Someday, Mikan wished to have that kind of respect.

"First, I'd like to extend heartfelt congratulations to the four of you," she had a stern smile on her face. "As you all should know, you'll have many new responsibilities as the Heads of our school. You will have tremendous influence as well as power, so I must emphasize the need to act _maturely_," she emphasized, darting a pointed look at the boys. Lips thinning, she continued, "Picking two Gryffindors and two Slytherins wasn't just coincidence," she said sternly, looking from one to the other. "The Headmaster and the other professors have witnessed an increase in animosity between the houses in the past few years. The rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin has not gone unnoticed," she said breezily. "We expect you four to put your differences aside and act civil to one another, if not only in the public eye because if these two houses can get along with each other, then there's bound to be hope for us yet."

Mikan wrinkled her nose but Hermione only lifted her chin in compliance.

"Any questions?" McGonagall asked, though her expression was closed. "Then do what you must," she dismissed. In other words, _Deal with it._

McGonagall nodded curtly and with a narrowed gaze at the Slytherins, she turned and walked back up to where Dumbledore and several teachers sat with goblets of Firewhiskey still in hand.

Mikan sighed, thinking it best to start a negotiation with the Slytherins before a cheery voice cut in. "Congratulations!"

Mikan whirled around to glimpse a pair of violet eyes, blonde hair and that _soso_ familiar smile on Narumi-sensei's lips_. _

_Father._

"Thanks," Mikan smiled widely, jumping to give him a bone-crushing hug. She owed a lot to him for if it wasn't for her old homeroom teacher, none of _this_, Alice Academy and Hogwarts, would never have happened for her. He'd found her when nobody else was looking and well… that was more than she could've asked for.

He smiled widely at Hermione, giving her a one-armed hug before winking at the boys and clapping his hands together. "Alright, to business," he tried to mimic McGonagall's stern voice. He only ended up sounding conspiratorial when he continued lowly, "Follow me, your common room awaits."

The slow, quiet murmur of _freak teacher_ and the cackle of Malfoy's laughter drifted through the air around them and Mikan suppressed the urge to turn around and send a knuckle to his face.

"Can you believe we're going to living with a pair of _bookworms?_ A _Mudblood_, no less," Malfoy drawled in a low tone.

_Mudblood… _It really was such a horrible word. It was degrading, meant to lower one's self esteem and make others feel inferior just because of their blood status. No surprises to have Malfoy share the word with them, Mikan thought nastily. That boy really needed to be taught a lesson.

With a smirk, Mikan flicked her finger in a circle and heard the dark yelp of surprise when the pebble she'd sent made impact with Malfoy's head.

It had been several years ago, in third year, she remembered, when she had been pushed aside by a girl from Slytherin House with the Alice of Wind. It hadn't been the first time she'd been bullied by the Slytherins. It was no secret that Hyuuga hated her guts and vice versa. Their rivalry that had stemmed from their beginning at Alice Academy only strengthened as the years passed in Hogwarts and the Slytherins, especially the girls, loved to please their leader by pissing off the one he hated most.

And after months of anger and years of silent torment, Mikan had _had _it. So when she felt a rush of anger catalyzed by the girl's rough push, it came to her as a surprise when a gust of wind had moved from her body to the books and parchment the girl was holding.

The girl's homework had been lost in the wind.

As shocked and confused as she'd been, Mikan had helped pick up the articles of parchment and books with a simple spell, much to the Slytherin girl's confusion.

A few days following that fateful day, she had similar occurrences around other Alice users and after a particular run in with Hyuuga Natsume himself, Mikan had rushed to Dumbledore's office, where she had been assessed and then diagnosed with another Alice. The Stealing/Copying Alice, the same as her mother's.

She never used this particular Alice though, if it was unneeded. This moment in particular would be an exception though, Mikan promised. She really just couldn't help herself when Malfoy was being such a cocky arse.

Every time Malfoy said something in a malicious sense, she would chuck another pebble at the back of his head. Like it was a chain effect, he would turn around angrily to see who the culprit was, thinking that he was being tailed by an annoying first year that didn't know any better, only to see the empty corridor behind. After this, Hyuuga would roll his eyes and the edge of his lips would twitch with mild amusement and Mikan would try to keep the smile off her face while listening to Malfoy mutter something incoherent. Hermione… well she was oblivious to this simple exchange except for a twitch of her head when Malfoy would suddenly yelp.

They were led up to the second floor of the castle, twisting down a few corridors. Hermione and Mikan found that, even though they had roamed the corridors at night with Harry and Ron, countless times, they had never treaded into this corridor during their little adventures. They walked past a couple of paintings until they came upon a painting with two old women. Upon their laps, lay a pair of Siamese cats who were holding up cards, playing a game of poker when they stopped and looked at the intruders to their game.

"Password?" drawled one of the cats, wearing a pink bonnet upon her grey patches of hair.

"Galloping Galleons," Mr. Narumi said pleasantly, looking closer at the cards that the cat on the left was holding. The cat hissed, "No cheating!" before the portrait door swung open, letting the five of them inside.

"Well this is it," Narumi said with a flourish, flopping onto one of the green armchairs. "As you have probably guessed, the password is Galloping Galleons and will change every week or so, so come to me for the new password when you find yourself locked out." He winked playfully before getting to his feet, "If you need help, visit my office!"

The common room was slightly bigger than the Gryffindor common room and Mikan smiled in delight at the thought of only sharing the room with four others. The whole room was decorated in their house colors of red, gold, green and silver. The plush armchairs that covered a corner near the fireplace were red and green and the fireplace was already crackling with fire. A couple of brightly shining chandeliers hung in the air, held up by magic no less, and candles were lit as well, hanging with no support. There was a large coffee table in the middle of a circle of couches and armchairs.

Around the common room, there were four rooms for the four of them and the four went into each one. Mikan and Hermione went into the two in the left and Malfoy and Hyuuga, the two at the right. All was well until Malfoy yelled with indignation, running out of his room with a look of disgust.

"That room is definitely _not_ mine," he sneered, his lips curling.

Mikan came out of the room she'd disappeared into and replied evenly, "You can switch with me. I can't stand silver and green décor," she replied, looking at Hermione with a roll of her eyes.

"I believe you're talking about the horrid red and gold in _that _room if you're talking about repulsive décor," Malfoy scoffed darkly, strutting breezily past her and into the room she'd switched for his.

Mikan rolled her eyes.

Walking into her new assigned room, Mikan's gaze fell upon the large four poster bed that was of the color of her tastes: red and gold. The canopy and the moonlight illuminating the bed looked inviting and she took a seat on the edge to find it soft and silky.

At one corner of the room was a large oak desk laden with parchment and quills. A bedside table with a luminous lamp and two drawers connected.

There was also a long mirror and closet. On the floor lie her trunks and a caged Hadelius, ready to be unpacked. She unlocked Hadelius' cage and she fluttered out of the open window and down to the Owlery where the other owls stayed. She pulled out her hygienic toiletries and night clothes and proceeded to the door that could only be the bathroom.

"Thank God," she murmured under her breath, taking off her cloak and jumper. Just as she was in the process of unbuttoning her blouse, the other door opened and in stepped Hyuuga Natsume.

Startled and embarrassed, Mikan snarled, "What the heck are you doing?"

Cool red eyes sought hers and he raised a brow, looking her up and down. When he met her eyes once again, they glistened with mischief, even when he replied blandly, "We're sharing a bathroom."

She stormed past him, into his room, out of his door and into the common room where Malfoy and Hermione were having a similar spat. Hyuuga followed her out.

"You," Mikan snarled at Malfoy, "—are sharing a bathroom with Hyuuga. Hermione and I will share one, agreed?"

"Who put you in charge?" Malfoy retaliated with a dark smirk. "If you think were going to listen to you, you don't know Natsume and I," he drawled. "Malfoys don't take orders from those that are beneath them and I doubt the Hyuugas are any different."

Hermione scoffed, fists clenched, "You're delusional if you think you're above us, Malfoy. Maybe in that psychotic mind of yours, you are but you really need a reality check if you think that'll rattle us."

"You think I'm going to feel threatened by a Mudblood?" Malfoy countered, stepping towards her. Hermione stepped back in surprise and then scowled. A look of anger and repulsion reflected in her eyes. "You're a pile of pureblooded trash," she replied icily. "And a complete waste of life."

He raised a brow, undeterred. "Draco Malfoy, a waste of life? Mudblood, I assume you're talking about yourself."

"That's enough," Mikan snarled, holding up her arms. Shooting Malfoy a pointed look, she snapped, "Shut up, Malfoy."

"Back off, Sakura. This isn't your battle," Natsume drawled, standing languidly in the corner by his room.

"Mind your own business, Hyuuga!"

With a plunge of her hand, her wand was out and pointing at Hyuuga with a look of defiance on her face as he in turn, had his wand pointed at her. Hermione and Malfoy were in similar positions. All of them started circling each other.

"You're sick if you think you're better than us because of your blood status," Mikan bit out icily. "I'm pure blooded and you don't see me acting like a complete wanker!"

"We call the likes of you blood traitors, Sakura," Malfoy countered coolly, a manic grin on his lips. "You're a disgrace to the pureblooded name."

"Oh, shut up, Malfoy," Hermione said quietly, the arm holding her wand trembling. Seeing an open mark, Malfoy fired the first jinx at her and she fell back against the wall, her wand falling out of her hand. The air was cut with flashes of red and blue lights as Stunning spells were fired and balls of fire were released.

None of these hit Mikan and Hermione though, as Mikan stepped in front of Hermione who was still rubbing the bruise on her arm.

"You can't hit me with your Alice, Hyuuga, and your spells are useless against me unless you're using the Unforgivables," Mikan replied with a grin on her lips. She watched as Natsume's face contorted into a scowl and she tipped her head back to laugh. "Don't you just love my Alice?"

-;-

It didn't work. Every time Hermione tried to come into the bathroom the two girls were to share, she would be repelled backwards and the same would happen with Malfoy if he tried to enter. So in the end, Mikan and Natsume were to share their bathroom and Hermione and Malfoy were to share theirs.

Mikan didn't talk or address the two boys when in their company and paid no attention whatsoever to what they did.

Well, that's what it seemed.

After a fitful sleep and a quick shower in the morning (locking both doors with charms), Mikan left the portrait hole with Hermione by her side and headed towards the Great Hall for breakfast, locking her door with magic.

Their timetables were given to them and Mikan and Hermione found themselves staring at another full timetable of hard classes such as Arithmancy and Advanced Transfiguration and Ancient Runes. And to their utter disbelief, Slytherins would be sharing many of their classes. It was enough sharing a common room with the two arrogant prats, but to be in their company in classes too? That was pure and utter torture.

-;-

With a tottering pile books and her completed homework, Mikan staggered towards the door of the library, resting every minute or so to catch her breath. She continued the trek up to the common room, taking pit stops every once in a while to rearrange the pile of books in her arms. She'd be late to dinner at this rate…

"Wait up, Mikan!" came a shrill voice, the clattering of footsteps echoing off of the stone walls.

Aoi and Ginny Weasley appeared by her side and instantly helped her with the pile of homework and books. Their strained breaths lessened and they continued their walk up the stairs. "I'm supposing you two want to see the Heads room?" she asked with a brilliant but tired smile.

"Why would you say such a thing?" Aoi asked innocently. "We were merely helping a friend and if we happen to come across your common room—"

"—that you'll be sharing with two of the hottest guys in school—" Ginny cut in.

"—then so be it," Aoi grinned. Ginny giggled her agreement.

Stepping into the room, the two sixth years placed their piles of parchment back into Mikan's hands and walked around the large common room, leaving Mikan to totter towards her room. She placed her books in alphabetical order and her homework on her desk, and then headed out for dinner.

"Dinner, now!" she yelled ushering them out.

After dinner, Ginny and Aoi followed Hermione and Mikan up to their common room and all of them sat comfortably in the armchairs talking about the upcoming Ball.

"You two have to come with Ginny and me to Hogsmeade so we can get our dresses and stuff for the Ball," Aoi demanded, brushing her straight midnight blue hair from her eyes.

Mikan rolled her eyes in mock annoyance before replying, "We've already got dresses but I'll come."

She sighed, picturing the beautiful satin red dress that hung in her closet, waiting for the school's attention. Mikan was so occupied, in fact, that she jumped as the portrait door opened and Malfoy, Hyuuga and a handsome Youichi Hijiri walked into the room.

"Tangerine," Youichi greeted softly, a small smile directed her way. "—friends," he said as an afterthought.

"Hey, You," Mikan greeted with a gentle, beatific smile. The smile stunned Malfoy for a second and even Hyuuga was a bit surprised. She didn't notice though, and kept her gaze on Youichi. He was really the only Slytherin that she could tolerate. Across from her Aoi looked away with a blush.

The girls stood up and headed towards Mikan's room and sat on the bed. After a moment's pause, Ginny gushed, "How can you resist those two! They are so **hot**!"

"I heard that," Malfoy's muffled voice drawled.

"You're a loser," Mikan yelled back. She leaned back into the mattress of her bed before directing her gaze at Ginny. "That's how we can resist. They're pigs." Hermione nodded in silent agreement. "Youichi's an exception, of course," she winked at Aoi.

"He is, isn't he?" Aoi blushed, fiddling with the hem of her skirt.

Clearing her throat, Hermione brought up the subject of the upcoming ball and to Mikan's chagrin, the topic turned to the senior girls and their boyfriends. Hermione and Ron; Mikan and Ruka.

_Ruka… what's been going on with you?_

She felt as if she didn't even know the boy anymore. They hadn't talked in the last 48 to 72 hours and he hadn't even made the slightest of eye contacts with her either. What was he hiding anyway? She would try to catch up to him after dinner … but he would always disappear in the Great Hall mass afterwards. He was avoiding her. That was for certain, but for what reason?

She sighed when she realized that someone was knocking on the door. Walking over, she opened it only to see piercing red eyes as Hyuuga shoved a letter in her hand, promptly turning to lounge in one of the armchairs in front of the fire. She merely rolled her eyes and closed the door to her room, flipping open the letter to read:

**Mikan Sakura**

_Patrolling duties:_

_**Monday**__- __Mikan Sakura__, Draco Malfoy, and Natsume Hyuuga_

_**Tuesday**__-Hermione Granger, __Mikan Sakura__, and Draco Malfoy_

_Wednesday-Natsume Hyuuga, Hermione Granger, and Draco Malfoy_

_**Thursday**__-Draco Malfoy, Natsume Hyuuga, and __Mikan Sakura_

_**Friday**__-__ Mikan Sakura__, Natsume Hyuuga, and Hermione Granger_

_Saturday- _**OFF**

_Sunday- _**OFF**

_Patrolling duties start at 11 at night and end at midnight. Some patrol nights may be cancelled due to exhausting activities and may be switched around if inconvenient for fellow patrollers._

_Questions will be answered if asked._

_Sincerely,_

_McGonagall_

She handed the note to Hermione and ushered the younger girls to their own dormitories.

Sighing heavily, Mikan looked out of the window. The sun was setting over the Forbidden Forest and painted the sky in colors of pinks, reds, and deepest oranges and yellows. She smiled longingly at the scene and thought about Ruka once again before turning to face Hermione, who lay sprawled on Mikan's bedspread. She raised an eyebrow questionably.

Mikan sighed softly, "I have patrol with the devils tonight."

* * *

_My Hopeless Romantic_


	5. Moonday Masquerade

**Disclaimer:** All recognizable characters from Gakuen Alice and Harry Potter belong to Tachibana Higuchi and J. K. Rowling respectively. The rest is all mine.

* * *

Pandemonium comes with strangers in masks.

**Chapter Four: Moonday Masquerade****  
**

**-;-**

Some would say it was no big deal. Others would argue it was a piece of cake. Others still would jump at the chance to spend one whole hour in the presence of the school's two most hottest bad boys in the late hours of the night.

But honestly, people could say whatever they wanted.

Mikan knew better.

It was two minutes before eleven and Mikan arrived promptly at the Great Hall where she agreed to meet the two for their first day of patrol. She wore her usual school attire consisting of a tweed skirt, a white blouse with a jumper over top and a tie with her house colors vividly sewn on. To top it all off, she wore the heavy, black cloak over top with the Gryffindor emblem emblazoned on her right.

She wouldn't forget herself tonight and the two Slytherin boys damn well shouldn't either.

Her eyes were sparked with fury as she sat on the Gryffindor bench waiting, tapping her shoes lightly with impatience and her arms crossed firmly over her chest, a frown marring her usually cheery features.

_They were twelve minutes late._

The clicking sounds of shoes coming closer on the stone floors of the school resonated deep in her mind as she shot to her feet, her arms at her sides and her fists clenched, her knuckles turning white with the effort.

Two pairs of sleek black dress shoes turned the corner and stopped abruptly at the Entrance of the Great Hall. Looking as dazzling as ever, the two tall Slytherin boys stood dressed in expensive silk.

Malfoy, the heir of the Malfoy Manor, stood with his sleek blonde bangs falling barely over his grey, stormy eyes. His slightly pointy nose and high cheek bones were as pale as always, giving him a slightly sick look that complimented his pink lips, which was the only source of color on his face. His tall frame was intimidating in the empty Great Hall alongside his friend.

Hyuuga, wielding the Alice of Fire that was both dangerous to others and of course himself, stood an inch or two taller than the other with his silky black hair falling before his eyes more prominently than of Malfoy's, unfortunately concealing his irises from view. Mikan would rather swallow a metal fork than to admit, but she had the urge to run her hands into his hair that seemed to be soft to the touch. He had one red earring adorning his left ear, to her confusion, but somehow, it made him all the more appealing to the eyes. He would've looked like the most gorgeous gentleman alive if he didn't have a smirk on his face and the flashing mischief playing on his lips.

She muttered something that sounded like _'what a cruel world…'_ before she walked right in front of them with her hands on her hips in what she hoped to be, a menacing fashion.

This seemed to amuse the two of them.

She scowled.

"Thirteen minutes."

Malfoy raised an eyebrow. "Excuse you?"

"You two are thirteen minutes late!" Mikan screeched angrily. "We agreed to meet here at eleven! I'm assuming you wanted to turn up _fashionably late. _But honestly, who are you trying to impress?" she snapped angrily, pointing a finger into Malfoy's chest.

Malfoy rolled his eyes and looked to the left before drawling, "_I_ don't see the _bloody_ reason we have to listen to _you_ and have to _bloody_ walk the corridors, looking for miscreants when we could be doing something _bloody_ important."

It was her turn to roll her eyes. "And I'm going to _bloody _**kill** you if you say _bloody_ one more time!"

She glared at the two and she swore she saw Hyuuga's lips turn up a bit in… _amusement?_

"We'll have to make those thirteen minutes up, you know," she goaded, squeezing past the two to head into the halls.

The two boys walked behind her, not even trying to help check the halls, but instead, their hands were in the pockets of their trousers or robes, talking.

_Bloody wankers._

She looked past the stone walls that were lined with bright torches, flaming by the tip and lighting up the dreary corridors that were pitch black. The flickering of light sent shivers up her spine and she couldn't help but think that if something came up to attack them, she would never choose Hyuuga and Malfoy to have her back.

They would probably rather her die.

She stopped suddenly as she saw a flicker of light and then the sound of a distant clicking. She shivered involuntarily and her hand dove into her robe pockets to fish out her wand. She pointed it forward, her hand surprisingly calm and steady.

"What's the bloody problem?" Malfoy sneered.

She put a hand up to stop anything else he'd been about to say and whispered, "Shut up and listen."

And there it was again. There was a whip of light or shimmer of clothing and then the pattering of shoes in the distance.

Like a bolt of lightening, Hyuuga and Malfoy brushed past her, looking for the prey and sprinting ahead like predators. She bolted up to catch up to them, following the billowing robes that turned the corner just ahead of her. The hallways were getting darker and darker the further she ran. The clicking of her shoes pounding the stone floors echoed and resonated off the stone walls and as soon as it happened, the shoes skidded to a stop and she found herself running into a soft wall, which, she came to realize, was not a wall but a body.

The no longer dark hallways were alighted with fire that undoubtedly came from the boy with the flame emblazoned on his palm, lighting up his face and the energy brushing his raven locks away from his dazzling, ruby eyes. Her gaze lingered on him for a moment too long and she quickly looked away to the wall of fire that was blocking the path of a terrified third year. Malfoy and Hyuuga blocked his path, two walls on either side of him and the only way of escape was the wall of fire.

The poor kid was terrified.

"And what do we have _here_?" drawled Malfoy, taking a step closer. The difference in height was substantial and the boy trembled.

"Enough with the show, Hyuuga. Put it out, he's not going anywhere," Mikan murmured softly, tugging on his arm.

"No. Don't stop the fire, Nat. He'll book it the second you let him," Draco said coldly, if only to intimidate the prey. He stepped closer still and the boy's legs buckled.

"Malfoy, _ugh_… you're incorrigible! You _know_ that if he uses his Alice too much—" Mikan hissed.

A hard voice interrupted her. "_Shut up."_

She was startled. She turned to look up at him and got whip lash. Holding her neck gingerly, she peered at him. He was looking at her dangerously. Mikan mustered the remainder of her courage and spoke in a whisper. "You know that you're limiting your life, Hyuuga, so why aren't you stopping the use of your Alice when it's totally unnecessary?"

He looked away but the fire didn't cease.

"Does Malfoy kn—"

"No," he interrupted firmly. "And that's how it's going to stay," he said, glaring at her.

Mikan swallowed.

_Draco Malfoy didn't have a clue that Natsume's Fire Alice would be the death of him._

_-;-_

The bright morning sunlight streamed through her open window and the breezy mid-September air blew the covers off of her, intentionally or unintentionally, she'd never know.

_Strange things happened in Hogwarts School._

Mikan struggled to fully awake herself, stumbling out of bed and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes at the same time. The school grounds held mist and fog that swirled in the dreary colors of the morning, grey upon more grey. She entered the lavish bathroom she shared with Hyuuga and locked both doors in case another encounter transpired in which she ended up being in the same room with a certain raven haired boy with nothing but a pair of silky green boxers on.

She shuddered at the thought.

After completing her morning rituals, she rushed out of her room and out of the portrait hole, heading down to the Great Hall where delicious morning scents were making their rounds of the castle. She felt unusually pleased today, whether it was because it was a Saturday morning or because tonight was the night of the Moonday Masquerade Ball, Mikan wasn't sure.

Maybe both.

She had been having a few fantasies of the night she would be having with Ruka when a very pretty girl with grey, shiny locks turned the corner and bumped into her. Otanashi Yuri, the wielder of the Precognition Alice, lay sprawled on the floor.

She quickly got up and brushed some dust off her robes before extending her hand to the strange girl before her.

"I'm so sorry, Otana."

"Oh, morning Mikan. I knew that was going to happen actually, I just didn't think it would happen this early in the morning," she mumbled, examining a slightly pink patch on her wrist. She looked dazed and soon after, jolted out of her thoughts, before clasping her hands on Mikan's wrists.

"Oh, Mikan, are you alright?"

"Oh, I'm fine, Otana. Are you?" she asked, somewhat unsure.

"Oh fine, just fine. I hope you feel better soon, alright?"

And with that, the strange girl turned the corner and entered the Great Hall leaving Mikan confused and disillusioned. She soon followed suit and entered the hall receiving a reassuring look from Otanashi before sitting down at the table with Hermione by her side.

She was just about finished her breakfast when she felt a small tap at her shoulder.

"Oh! Good morning, Ruka," she smiled sweetly. Though they were boyfriend and girlfriend, she had wondered if he'd bother to ask her to the Ball for the last few days. This had been their first encounter for _days, _Mikan mused.

_Is he going to ask me to the Ball now?_

Ruka, with his straw colored hair and captivating, sea blue eyes looked away from her, his face was flushed and somewhat strained_. _

"Mikan, can I talk to you alone?"

She smiled at him before excusing herself from the table, not before glimpsing a look of worry from Hermione. She raised an eyebrow at her and Hermione gave a simple shrug in return.

Mikan filed that image away and reminded herself to ask Hermione about it later.

"Okay, let's go," she said, taking his hand in hers and smiling at him in pure delight. This was, after all, the first time in forever that he had made the first move to talk. She couldn't get the smile off of her face as she half skipped out of the Hall and outside. The wet blades of grass were drenched in morning dew as she kicked them, letting a spray of dew drops litter the air.

"So how've you been? I feel like it's been forever that we've been like this," she twirled around, taking both of his hands and smiling up at his face.

He didn't seem as happy as her though, so she shifted to her serious mode.

"Hey, what's wrong?" she asked again, this time stopping him in his tracks. He wasn't looking at her, though, she mused bitterly, he hadn't been able to for the last few days.

She tried to catch his chin in the palm of her hand but he twisted away and kept his eyes on the ground.

"Mikan, this isn't going to be easy…" he started, scuffing his shoes against the ground.

"Ruka," she sighed. "Just say it."

"Here's the thing… this—" he scratched the back of his head and bit his lip, "I don't think… I mean, _we_… I-I _really _don't know how to say this." He slid a hand down his face in exasperation. "The thing is… I like someone else Mikan."

It was a good thing he wasn't looking at her at that instant because her mind blanked, her eyes glazed over, and her lips were starting to tremble. There was an invisible pressure at the back of her throat and her eyes and she knew that if she didn't stop it, she would start sobbing like a baby.

Clearing her throat, it was her turn to look at the ground.

"I like her a lot, Mikan," he murmured softly. "I was trying not to but the more I tried, the more I liked her and…" he sighed. "I'm not making it any better, am I?"

Mikan laughed and it sounded bitter, even to her ears. "Hotaru, huh?" she muttered dully. "Well, I can't really blame you. I like her a lot too." She chuckled again. "She's my best friend."

It took him a while before he answered. Even though she already knew the answer, she wanted to hear him say it. His voice was strained, "I'm really sorry. I know it's wrong because she's your best friend but Hotaru, she's…"

"Kind of amazing, huh?" Mikan finished softly. "Yeah, I know."

"It's not that you're not amazing too, Mikan, it's just…" he couldn't finish.

She looked up at him, admiring his long eyelashes. It hurt even more that he refused to look her in the eyes. Brushing the tears that threatened to tumble down her cheeks, she walked up to him and lifted his chin up, his eyes aligned with her own. They reflected his surprise and _guilt._

She tried to smile. "No, I'm glad you're finally saying something.

He smiled a little. "I'm really sorry for being such a prick," he muttered with a hint of amusement, "I was being such a coward, trying to avoid you like that. You didn't deserve any of it."

She looked down.

"Yeah well… we've been friends for six years, Ruka-pyon… you know you can tell me anything right? Even things like this."

He flushed under her gaze and deflated. "I knew you'd understand," he smiled shyly. "I'm really, really glad I have a friend like you." One side of his mouth deflated and he frowned, "I kind of wished you'd slap me or something though… it'd make me feel less guilty after how I've been acting around you."

"Oh yeah?" Mikan raised a brow. "Well I'm not going to slap you so you can go right along and feel guilty." She sniffed playfully, "You bully." She peeked over her shoulder at him, watching as his lips turned up in a slow grin. "Now, go away and ask her out. Hopefully, when she says yes, you can wipe that look off your face."

"What look?"

She rolled her eyes. "The one that makes you look like you just saw someone die."

He smiled and bent down to kiss her on the cheek, chaste as always. "Thanks, Mikan." He turned around and started a little jog towards the castle before turning abruptly. "Did I really look as if someone died?"

Mikan rolled her eyes playfully before replying, "Yes… now _go_."

Without waiting for him to reach the doors to the castle, she walked promptly towards the Great Lake that was a radiant light blue in the clear morning sky and there, alone, she let the sob that she'd been holding in, out for the birds to hear.

She sobbed a spell to stop anyone from hearing her and put her pale hands on the ground, her knees were wet with dew. She could feel the dampness through her jeans. Closing her eyes firmly and she focused energy to her hands and soon, the ground glowed with a yellow light and from the ground, a small bud bucked out of the ground and grew before her. Though she didn't see it, she knew it was there. The bud grew larger and soon bark was shooting out of the ground, making the ground rumble beneath her and when she finally opened her eyelids, she smiled grimly at the partially grown Sakura tree that she had just produced.

She got up from her hands and brushed the dirt off before sitting at the base of the tree, crying as the pink cherry blossoms floated through the air, like she always did when she needed a good cry. She'd always make a Sakura tree.

"That was rather decent of you."

She jumped.

It was Youichi.

"What are you talking about?" she sighed with relief, burying her chin between her legs and watching the lake's surface shimmer.

He leaned on the trunk of the tree and looked up at the sky. "I heard you talking to him. It's surprising, how you can play the unaffected role so easily and the next second," he looked down with an eyebrow raised, "You're like this. I bet you're feeling like the crappiest thing on Earth, huh?"

"I don't feel like the crappiest thing on Earth, thank you very much," she said, her voice muffled as she spoke to her knees, pressed against her chest. "I feel like the crappiest thing in the whole solar system, the universe, the galaxy, the biggest piece of crap there is."

He grinned at her.

"Ugh, I feel so ugly right now."

He snorted. "Tangerine," he sighed, "You're only ever ugly when you cry like this. I've only ever known you were strange… never took you to be this pathetic too. You're pretty ugly."

She looked up and glared at the cute boy beside her. "That's an oxymoron."

"Even in this state of depression, you act like a know-it-all," he said with a shake of his head. "C'mon. You're going to get up and stop moping around. You're going to get dressed up in a frilly pink dress and go dance all of your sorrows away tonight and you'll stop being a cry baby and you'll be the idiotic, carefree idiot we all know and _somewhat _love, understand?" he said, and by this time, he was sitting down in front of her with his legs crossed and staring at her with a slight scowl on his handsome features.

She laughed. "I would never wear a _frilly_ pink dress."

"Was that _all _you heard?" He rolled his eyes and got up, reaching down to pull her up, too.

"Youichi, you're the best. I _love_ you!" she cried and flung her arms around his shoulders to give him a tight bear hug that a sister would give.

He groaned again and scowled. "_How_ many times do I have to tell you _not_ to say that?"

"Forever and beyond," she actually grinned. "Thanks, Youichi. I owe you one," she said with a small smile, running towards the castle.

"You know what else you owe me," he asked, annoyed, "Thirty five galleons, moron!"

-;-

It was finally the night, the night of the Masquerade Ball.

Mikan stood in front of her full length mirror. It had still taken a few hours to let all the details sink in but when it had, Mikan couldn't help but feel a bit lighter. The stress of having a boyfriend lifted off of her shoulders, the constant worrying over what the hell was wrong with him and of course the annoyance of him constantly avoiding her had finally stopped and she relished the fact that she could dance with whomever she wanted, though she still had a nagging feeling at the back of her heart.

The part that still wanted to dance the night away with Ruka was still pretty big.

She glanced at the mirror and it seemed for the first time, she actually saw herself. She was wearing the beautiful satin red dress that she had fallen in love with since the day she had first set eyes on it. It was a pretty halter top dress that flowed smoothly over her hips and glided down her skin. It was V-neck and it simply looked stunning on her.

She was surprised to see that she actually had a pair of hips and that her waist was small. It wasn't like her to care about what she looked like but she couldn't help but gape at the way her brown locks curled in the right places. She had put her hair up in an elegant chignon with a few locks framing her face delicately and she wore a pair of dangly silver earrings. She had been kidding when she said that silver was an atrocious color.

She wore light make up on her face, a little bronzer, natural eye shadow, mascara and a light lip color. She wore a pretty silver necklace and red two inch heels that, at least, made her look slightly taller She pulled on the fragile golden mask and she twirled one last time in front of the mirror before opening her door, just in time to see green robes and black dress shoes leave the portrait hole.

_I guess the Slytherin devils are gone._

Hermione and Mikan made their way down to the Great Hall where the music was already blaring with a hip hop song, down the corridors. It seemed that the entrance to the Great Hall had a spell on it because whenever a girl wore a skanky outfit, she would have a fully clothed outfit inside.

It was ingenious.

"Are you waiting for Ron?" Mikan asked as they stopped just outside the Ball.

Hermione shook her head. "I'm meeting him inside somewhere." Her eyes softened when she looked at Mikan. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Mikan didn't have to ask why she'd wanted to know. "Yeah, I'm fine," she replied with a roll of her eyes, pulling the girl with her into the Great Hall.

"I still don't think it was very courteous of him to tell you the day of the Ball. He could've told you sooner so that you could've found a date, I mean, any guy would want to take you looking like _this,_" Hermione said, gesturing at her outfit.

Mikan smiled. "Thanks, but I doubt I would've been up to taking someone else anyway…"

They pushed past the group of party goers and to the punch table where they saw a mane of red hair dancing with a…

"Slytherin? Oh my, _Ginny Weasley_, get your butt over here this instant!"

The Slytherin boy looked at the pair quizzically before lifting Ginny's hand up to his lips and placing his lips gently on the back of her hand. She glided over to the two girls and smiled sheepishly.

Mikan took her by the arm. "Ginny! That was a Slytherin! You don't dance with Slytherins!"

In her dazed disposition, Ginny managed to roll her eyes and scoff, "Oh, c'mon Mikan, don't be so juvenile. Not all Slytherins are terrible, miserable excuses for human beings, you know."

She growled but realized she was stereotyping. "Fine, what would you call that Slytherin you just danced with then, hm?"

The red head's eyes glazed over and her voice was dreamy. "He was charming, romantic…" she said as she swayed dramatically. Snapping out of her thoughts, Ginny stepped back and whistled, "But you two look _hot_! Where have _you _guys been hiding?"

She blushed. A new song started and everyone grabbed new dancing partners. Somehow, Ginny and Hermione were dragged into the crowd. She grabbed a cup, filling it with Butterbeer and after a while she thought, _this is a Ball and I might as well have some fun. _

Leaving her half full cup on the punch table, Mikan walked to the middle of the room and started shaking her hips to the music and sliding her feet. Mikan Sakura was a dancing animal. Eyes turned to look at the stranger before them. Who was that girl? No one would have thought that the stranger was the notorious bookworm. Guys in different Houses, even Slytherin, came up to her and tried to dance with her, but she pushed them away because they had horrible rhythm. She swayed her hips and laughed like a mad woman and then she felt a pair of hands on her hips.

_Oh no. Not another one._

But before she pushed him away, her mind hazy with the pounding music, she realized that this guy - _the guy could actually dance._

A small smile appeared on her lips and she allowed him to continue dancing with her. They swayed their hips and their bodies were dangerously close as they danced to the music, enjoying each other's company. The boy could dance _very _well, Mikan thought with a dreamy smile on her lips. All too soon, the song ended and she exhaled deeply before turning around to see who her dance partner was. Trying to recover from her surprise, Mikan spied a pair of black shoes and robes disappear in the crowd.

She scowled.

_Trust the good ones to get away._

Heading towards the punch table to quench her thirst, Mikan gaped in dismay. The punch and cups were thrown on the ground and the tables were taken by couples making out. Limbs were thrown every which way and Mikan turned away with disgust, crossing her arms over her chest.

_Lovely scene._

Her head was throbbing and she was hot and tired from dancing. The fast songs started morphing into slow songs and in her exhausted stupor, Mikan turned toward the exit and headed towards it. The hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end and she could distinctly feel eyes burning holes into her back. She just about reached the exit when she felt a small tap on her shoulder for the second time that day and her stomach fell to her feet at the gentle, familiar touch.

Slowly, she turned around and glimpsed a pair of black dress shoes and trousers as well as a dark, silky green dress shirt.

_A Slytherin._

Stepping back in surprise, Mikan bit down the yelp of shock that made its way up her throat and opted to put a hand to her chest to keep her heart from falling out and writhing on the floor. She took her time to control her breathing and when it was regulated, Mikan looked back up to the boy and stared at him for a moment, taking in the tousled black hair and the flashing radiance in his eyes.

The boy stepped closer and the difference in height was phenomenal. Reaching a hand out, he asked gallantly, "May I have this dance?"

A smile made its way across her lips before smirking, "Would you take no for an answer?"

She lifted her chin in mock-defiance, her mask firmly in place. Gouging his reaction, she saw the rise in his eyebrows which seemed to display how impressed he was before a smirk of his own fell across his lips. Smiling, he countered, "I might ask a few more times before it damaged my pride irreparably. But since this isn't our first dance of the night, I'm hoping you'll allow me another one."

Mikan stepped back in her surprise and tried to catch the breath that was knocked out of her. _Was he real? This couldn't be a Slytherin!_

By this time, their bodies were almost touching. "It was you?" she asked, her breath hitched.

He answered with a curt nod before he placed his hands on her hips and she looped her arms around his neck. She could feel the distinct warmth of his body and oh god, he was lovely.

_Breathe in for luck.  
Breathe in so deep.  
This air is blessed, you share with me.  
This night is wild, so calm and dull._

This was wrong, she knew but then she heard the words from Ginny. _Not all Slytherins are terrible, miserable excuses for human beings, you know…_

"What House?" he asked after a moment of silence, as they swayed to the brilliant rock song and the strumming of the guitar.

"Gryffindor, how about you?" she asked, though she knew if his clothes were anything to go by.

"Slytherin, serpents," and once again, he surprised her when he didn't go running off to the hills once he learned that she was in Gryffindor. Instead, he smirked and twirled her out and back into his body. "I didn't think this inter-house unity thing would work but here we are."

She laughed.

_These hearts, they race, from self-control.  
Your legs are smooth, as they graze mine.  
We're doing fine.  
We're doing nothing at all._

_My hopes are so high that your kiss might kill me.  
So won't you kill me?  
So I die happy.  
My heart is yours to fill or burst,  
to break or bury, or wear as jewelry.  
Whichever you prefer._

"What do you say," he muttered softly into her ear. "To a game of twenty questions."

Mikan forced herself not to shiver at the deep baritone of his voice and managed to nod her head in assent.

His lips tugged upward when he asked, "Single or taken?"

She looked down in embarrassment. "I was taken, but I got dumped early this morning," she admitted with a frown. She glanced up to gouge his reaction and saw his eyebrows rise in disbelief.

"Well, I bet the dumb ass is seriously regretting it now," he murmured quietly, almost under his breath. "I might just have to thank him for being an idiot."

"What about you?" she asked, after having a laugh.

"Single," he returned smoothly, pulling her an inch closer.

_The words are hushed, 'let's not get busted'  
Just lay entwined here, undiscovered.  
Safe in here from all the stupid questions.  
"Hey did you get some?"  
Man that is so dumb.  
Stay quiet, stay near, stay close, they can't hear.  
So we can get some._

She smiled. "Lucky for me," she whispered, earning a smirk from her dance partner. Mikan looked him in the eyes, a dark abyss of mystery and found her gaze on the floor, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment and her bottom lip victim to her incisors. "What do you think of me?"

Covering his surprise well, the boy led her back and forth across the floor before answering, "I think you're funny and smart and the most beautiful girl I've ever seen." He seemed embarrassed for a little bit when he ducked his head low before he murmured, "Even if I can only see part of your face…"

He ducked his head again and she didn't imagine how the heat that immediately doubled from his body. She almost melted because he was so cute. Ruka had never said this kind of thing to her before. It was a nice change.

"What about me?" he said, after a second.

"You're different from any other guy I've ever met," said Mikan truthfully. "One moment, you're blunt and cocky. The next moment, you're shy and sweet. It helps that you're very beautiful yourself," she blushed slowly.

"Beautiful?" he sounded offended. "You just called me beautiful."

_My hopes are so high that your kiss might kill me.  
So won't you kill me?  
So I die happy.  
My heart is yours to fill or burst,  
to break or bury, or wear as jewelry.  
Whichever you prefer._

She couldn't help the laugh that escaped her. "How about I call you charming and handsome?" She noticed his lips, once again, tugging upward and her heart went right along with it.

"Then," he started, pulling her close, warm breath on her cheek, "I'd be happy."

_Hands down this is the best day I can ever remember.  
Always remember the sound of the stereo.  
The dim of the soft lights.  
The scent of your hair, that you twirled in your fingers.  
And the time on the clock, when we realized "It's so late!"  
And this walk that we share together._

They danced in silence, swaying around the dance floor and enjoying each other's company. Mikan could seriously say that tonight was a dream come true. The Slytherin had oddly familiar, glowing eyes, though in Hogwarts, it wasn't very uncommon. In the dark lighting, she couldn't tell what color his hair was, but it was dark. Probably black, she thought. She let this slide out of her mind as they continued to dance and the song was nearing its end.

_The streets were wet, and the gate was locked,  
So I jumped it, and let you in.  
And you stood at the door, with your hands on my waist.  
And you kissed me like you meant it.  
And I knew...that you meant it._

The song ended and Dumbledore's cheery voice resonated around the room. "That was the last song of the night. Take your masks off if you will and will your dreams be as joyous as this dance. Good night."

The boy she was dancing with hesitantly lifted his hands and rested his fingers on the outline of her mask. Her beat raced in a panic. She _really _didn't want to see the disappointment in his face once he realized who she was. "Wait," she whispered. "How about we play a game?"

He raised his eyebrows and urged her to continue.

"Depends what game."

"How about we wait until the week before the Graduation Ball, meet at the Great Lake and we'll reveal our identities then?" she proposed. "Leaving it like this… something just doesn't feel right."

He didn't seem too pleased about the idea but then a smirk lit upon his face and he waved his hand, "Let the games begin." She grinned but he held a hand up to stop her. "But… we'll Owl each other." He scratched the back of his head. "I can't go the rest of the year without at least speaking to you…"

She clapped her hands. "Excellent."

A flash of red hair went by and caught her attention before a Hermione-like figure followed close after. "Great. I had a really great time tonight. Really," she smiled.

He smirked. "I'm not surprised."

She left a lingering laugh in the air after pecking him fast on the cheek before following the figure she'd seen scurry out of the Great Hall.

"Hermione, _wait_," Mikan hissed, hurrying to catch up to the brunette. But no answer was needed. They were now in the Gryffindor common room and there was Ron and in his arms was a bundle that was Parvati Patil, kissing like there was no tomorrow.

"Ronald Weasley," Hermione spoke in a deadly whisper.

The two sprung apart, panting. "Hermione!"

"What are you _doing_?" She slapped her palm against her forehead and growled sarcastically, "Oh, stupid me. You're _cheating _on me, that's what! And for _her_!" she spat.

The color of embarrassment that was on Ron's face dissipated as he paled until his face was a ghostly white. "Hermione, I can explain!"

"Oh, can you now?" Hermione shouted angrily. "Go ahead and _try_, Ron."

Ron swallowed nervously and pulled away from Parvati in time to say, "It's… I… Things have just been so busy for you and I couldn't... we're not... you're different somehow."

Hermione took an angry step forward. "Leave it to _you _to blame me for your mistakes. Ron, I am _done _with you."

"You don't understand," Ron pleaded softly.

"There isn't much to understand, Ron. We're over and don't even try to stutter your way out of this one!" she whispered dangerously. She turned away and started running out of the common room.

Mikan simply glared at Ron. "How could you do that to her?" she asked, and without waiting for a response, she left the portrait hole and brushed past a bewildered Harry Potter.

By this time, Hermione had locked herself in the bathroom and the shower was turned on full blast.

Mikan rushed into the common room and into her own room and peeled her dress off and tore into her own bathroom that she shared with Natsume. After thirty minutes she went out of the bathroom in a pair of short shorts and a tank top and found Natsume Hyuuga in the common room, a quill and parchment in front of him. It seemed he wanted to write a letter. He seemed to be in a daze as he rolled the quill around his fingers.

"Where have _you _been?" she asked him, toweling off her hair.

"Shut up, Sakura," he muttered nonchalantly.

She didn't mind his attitude. She had other things in mind, after all. "You seem dazed," she observed softly, taking in the small smirk of content on his face.

"You're ruining my good mood," he snapped, collapsing on the couch.

"Really now?" Mikan murmured bitterly, "Well at least _one _of us had a good night."

She collapsed onto her bed thinking about what Ron had done, feeling really upset. To think she thought things with _Ruka _were bad. Compared to Ron making out with another girl, Mikan couldn't help but feel she got the better end of the stick. At least Ruka and her were still friends… after that episode with Ron, Mikan honestly doubted things could turn out the same.

Hermione entered the room soon after and collapsed into a fit of sobs. She was in the middle of explaining her partially wonderful night dancing with a stranger when Mikan had to cut her off as a sharp tap could be heard by her window.

The owl fluttered in with a letter attached to its leg and she hurriedly unsealed the Slytherin seal of a serpent and read:

_Dear Ms. Anonymous,_

_It's only been an hour but I had to hear from you again. To see if you're actually real. I need to see you again, I need to feel you to see if you're real. I'm pretty sure this is all a dream and if I blink, all of this will disappear in a puff of smoke._

_Will you see me soon?_

_Your Slytherin Prince_

She sighed almost dreamily.

"Hurry up and write back to him," Hermione replied in an excited whisper, "At least _he _sounds like a decent man."

Mikan grabbed a piece of parchment, a large smile on her face, and wrote:

_Dear Slytherin Prince,_

_I'm glad that your night was so perfect, mine took a nasty turn. But with you it was magical. I don't regret that part of my night one bit. My… friend's boyfriend turned out to be a massive idiot and it wasn't a pretty sight. _

_I'd love to see you again,_

_Your Lioness_

She sealed up the letter and in a moment of absolute giddiness, she pressed her lips against the Gryffindor seal. "To my Slytherin Prince, please," she whispered, handing the letter to the owl still perched on her windowsill. She closed her eyes for about five minutes when the owl came fluttering back.

_Dear My Lioness,_

_You shouldn't feel bad. The bastard is stupid for doing that sort of thing. You should tell your friend that she is better off without him because he will probably regret it in the morning. And since you're single as of this morning, I guess you're mine. Good night._

_Your Slytherin Prince_

Mikan smiled.

_Dear my Slytherin Prince,_

_Thank you and good night._

_Your Lioness_

She smiled at the sight of the owl diving off and out the window before she collapsed on her bed and closed her eyes. Hermione was long out of her room and she fell into a deep sleep soon after.

She dreamed of a Slytherin boy with green robes, mysterious dark eyes and matching hair…

* * *

**The song, if you're wondering was **Dashboard Confessional's _Hand's Down_ **which I think is da bomb.**

_My Hopeless Romantic_


	6. Conscious Complications

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Gakuen Alice or the Harry Potter characters, so if you were daft enough to think that I did, hell, you thought wrong!

* * *

Pandemonium comes with strangers in masks.

**Chapter Five: Conscious Complications**

-;-

By the time Mikan opened her eyes, the sun was streaming gold rays through her window and particles of dust danced along the sun's hazy stream of light. There was a cool wind blowing into her room through the window and with one mighty breath, it blew a tuft of Mikan's hair into her mouth.

She sputtered and rolled over on her side, ignoring the ache in her joints from the night of wild dancing and just all-around _drama. _Really, Hogwarts had enough excitement on a daily basis as it was. To think there'd be _more _drama in the next few days made Mikan want to feed herself to the Giant Squid.

With one more breath to ready herself for the day, Mikan threw her blanket aside and stumbled into the bathroom, thanking God it was a Sunday and that she wasn't late for class. Hermione would bite her head off if that were to happen and she… well honestly, she wouldn't really care. It wasn't like she couldn't catch up to the class lessons by reading her books.

While the tub was filling with hot water, Mikan gently started peeling off her clothes before a thud in Hyuuga's room made her neck snap up. Her Alice flew out reflexively and his door slammed shut along with a jiggling of the lock.

"What the _hell_, Sakura!"

_She wasn't supposed to use her Alices_.

Mikan groaned and rubbed her arms, trying in vain to tell them not to do things so reckless without the command from her brain.

What the hell, indeed.

Willing her Alice mishap away, Mikan slowly lowered herself into the tub, feeling the untold amount of knotted joints slowly relax. Her face warmed, and instantly, she was reminded of her Slytherin Prince.

Really, it was such a strange feeling, to be thinking so intently about a Slytherin boy. Though she wasn't going to delude herself into thinking he was perfection, Mikan couldn't help but wonder why he was in Slytherin House. Surely a boy such as he, as gentlemanly and witty as he was, had to be in Ravenclaw at best? Anything, _anything_ but Slytherin.

_"I might ask a few more times before it damaged my pride irreparably. But since this isn't our first dance of the night, I'm hoping you'll allow me another one."_

Her blush deepened and Mikan quickly shook her head before toweling off her hair. She drained the tub before putting her casual clothes on. Once finished, she stepped into her room to find a brown barn owl perched delicately on her desk with an envelope stuck on its leg. The green ribbon was what had her stubbing her toe on her chair but she was almost too happy to care.

She did hiss a quiet _fuuudge_ before the grin was back on her face and she was tearing open the letter. It read:

_Dear Lioness,_

_Good morning. How are you feeling today? Okay. I suck at small talk, but I had a reason in writing. It's Sunday. I was thinking, if you don't have any plans, if you'd like to see me. We'll have our masks on, as we agreed. _

The words, _I just…_ were crossed out several times before he continued:

_I'd like to see you again. _

_I hope you slept well,_

_Slytherin Prince_

The incredibly silly grin on her face was probably scaring the barn owl but Mikan couldn't stop it if she tried. But if the rational part of her mind held any merit, she knew that as much as she'd like to see him, it'd be terrible of her to go off when Hermione would definitely need any support she could get. Her boyfriend was _cheating _on her, for crying out loud! If there was one thing Mikan wasn't, it was a terrible friend.

Once she thought about it, this Sunday would not be as relaxed as she'd hoped. Her list of _to do's _seemed to be piling up.

Despite her great night last night, Mikan still wanted to talk to both Hotaru and Ruka. She wanted to know, wanted to see for herself. Because even though she'd told herself over and over that she was over it, it really didn't stop her heart from aching. Ruka and she had something special, something she thought brought them together in a way that no one would really understand but… with all of the avoidance and secrets and lies, Mikan really needed to question that now. And Hotaru… her _best friend_ since Alice Academy.

She didn't really feel it as a betrayal, because she knew they wouldn't purposefully do anything to hurt her. Mikan just… she wanted to know.

With that said, she also needed to talk to Harry and Ron about the _appalling _scene after the Ball. Then Hermione would probably have to tell Aoi and Ginny about what happened and from there on, she had some extra studying to do for Monday classes and maybe work on some extra credit.

_I'll have to get back to him on that offer_, she thought.

She left her room to get some breakfast before all that was left was porridge.

"Granger," Malfoy growled low in his throat. "I see you've been really trying to wash all of that filthy mud off, huh? But let's face it. No matter how much you wash, you'll always just be a Mudblood. Now move."

He sneered and not even two steps out of her room, her anger was at a peak. "Malfoy, if you don't shut your _mouth_, I am going to personally put it upon myself to wedge that pole up your arse further up!"

Hermione snorted, muttering a _Piss off, Malfoy_, before storming off and out of the common room. Draco merely snickered. "Someone's got her knickers in a twist," he commented dryly, tucking his hands lazily into his pockets.

"Oh sod off, Malfoy," she rolled her eyes.

He made a move to point exaggeratedly at himself with an innocent expression on his face. "What? Me? I believe that sort of language isn't becoming of the Head Girl," he tsked, smiling a crooked grin in her direction.

She shook her head and left.

By the time she entered the Great Hall a few paces behind Hermione, Mikan watched as she took a seat beside Harry and Aoi, starting to spread some marmalade onto her slice of toast without a care in the world. But Mikan knew her better than even Harry and Ron. The quick, angry swipes of her wrist and the tightened edges to her lips confirmed it all.

Hermione Granger was _furious_.

"Hermio—"

"Don't," Hermione's voice was firm, "—speak to me, Ronald. Frankly, every word that comes out of your mouth is just an annoying buzz in my ear." Mikan wanted to applause Hermione's control. If it were her, she'd probably be _screaming._

"Oh come now, Hermione. That was mean and I only wanted to—"

Furious and low, "Shut _up_, Ron."

All the while, Harry's green eyes were darting from Ron, sitting across from him, and then to Hermione, who was sitting beside him. Questions were dancing in his eyes and right when he was fixing his lips to ask what the _hell _was going on, Hermione threw her butter knife onto the table and whirled around to look at him. Fiery brown eyes looked into his accusingly, "Do you have _nothing _to say, Harry? Honestly. Nothing? He _cheated _on me, and you're probably just going to side with him like you always do!"

By this time, practically everyone in the Gryffindor table was looking over to their table wondering what the Head Girl was going on about.

Harry sputtered, confused. "Cheated on _you_? He was going on and on about you cheating on _him_."

A second passed before Hermione threw her head back and laughed raucously, causing strange looks and sneers from pinning to the back of her head. Her smile was acidic, "I cheated on you?" She leaned in closer to hiss. "I cheated on _you_? You really better be flippin' _kidding _with me Ron!"

Ron's ears flamed red and even his neck was starting to flush. His mouth opened and closed before he blinked and sat dumbly. "What the hell is going on, Ron?" Harry asked suddenly. "Did you just lie to me?" Ron opened his mouth to explain before the answer walked right up to them.

"Hey, Ronnikins," Parvati walked up, slinging her arms over Ron's shoulders and planted a kiss on the corner of his lips. She grinned before looking at Hermione. A sneer immediately pulled at her lips. "Oh. If it isn't the jealous ex."

Hermione looked like she'd just been slapped. Reigning in her anger, Hermione straightened. "First of all, _Patil_, his name is Ronald, not Ronnikins." Ron looked like he wanted to thank her. Ignoring him completely, Hermione pressed, "Secondly, why on _Earth_ would I be jealous of you? You've got _nothing _I want." She looked pointedly at Ron before pushing away from the table and walking from the room. Ginny gave a five second applause before Ron stilled her with a dark look.

"You're my sister! You're supposed to side with me!"

Ginny shot him a look that said, _Do you honestly think I'm that stupid?_ "Really, Ron. The minute you _cheated_, you were on your own. That kind of thing is scum-shit, Ron. You _know _that." She looked at him, then to Parvati before smirking back at her brother. "Well, have fun with Parv."

Ron reddened before running after Hermione, Mikan quick at his heels.

"C'mon, Hermione. Just give me another chance. I won't do it again! Honest!"

Hermione whirled around, her voice intense. "Don't even _try _your 'c'mon Hermione's' now, Ron. You _cheated _on me. You _lied _to Harry to get him on your side. You _dared _to put the blame on _me_ and you've had far too many chances. You're _sick_."

She shot a significant look at Mikan before continuing on her route, only to knock chest first into Malfoy.

He cursed vulgarly. "I _just _took a shower and now I have Mudblood all over me again. What the hell do you think you're doing, Granger?"

Hermione all but growled at him. She was about to mutter several colorful words at him when Ron turned the corner.

"Hermione, please. I reall—" Ron stopped when he glimpsed Malfoy and instantly glared daggers at him.

Mikan, who stood between Hermione and Ron, managed to say, "She's told you off, Ron. I doubt she'll change her mind after stewing for all of two seconds."

Ron, eyes still locked on Malfoy, barely registered the words before he glimpsed Hermione getting ready to leave once more. "Hermione," he sighed. "I'm sorry, ok? You _know _we're meant together. We didn't fight through a bunch of _shit _only to have this one thing ruin us."

"Ruin us?" Hermione hissed incredulously. "You're blaming me _again_? Honestly, do you _not _retain _anything _that I tell you, Ron? What the hell, _you _ruined us the minute you turned around and played with that—ugh!"

He looked ready for a fight when Mikan cut him off. "Ron, just leave. You're flippin' pissing me off. If you're not gone in two seconds, I swear I'm going to shove the pole up your ass deeper!"

A dry voice commented, "Funny, you said the same thing to me this morning."

Then everything happened in a blur. After Malfoy left for breakfast, Hermione lunged at Ron after a comment that Mikan didn't hear and punched him in the nose, spilling some blood and undoubtedly bruising her knuckles. Ron cried out in pain as Harry made a move to help him. Ginny shot Harry a dirty look before she and Aoi rushed after Hermione who had decided to leave the red headed boy in pain.

Pulling herself together, Mikan was about to help Harry take Ron to the medical wing when a cool hand looped around her arm and pulled her away. The jasmine that floated into her nose told her it was Hotaru.

"Hey," Mikan muttered in surprise. "I was just planning on talking to you."

Hotaru's eyes analyzed her face before she let go of Mikan's arm and murmured, "You know I'm not going to date Nogi, right?"

"And why the hell not?"

Mikan watched as Hotaru's cool velvet eyes darkened and she said bluntly, "I'm not like that."

Mikan couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Hotaru, you like him and he likes you. It's not that complicated."

Hotaru's jaw clenched. "I'm not going to talk about this with you."

"Okay." Mikan shrugged. "But I know the only reason why you're not going to say anything about it is because you're Hotaru Imai and you don't _do _relationship talks. So I'll talk for you." Mikan fixed the words in her head before she started, "Hotaru, I care about Ruka a lot. You _know _how much I care for him. And I'm not lying when I say I want to see him happy. I want to see _you_ happy, Hotaru. You're my best friend. I'm allowed to want that." She smiled wanly. "I care about Ruka. I know I do. But when I think about it long and hard, I don't think I love him. Or at least, love-love him."

Hotaru's monotonous voice seemed almost thoughtful. "It would be unseemly to go out with him."

"Unseemly?" Mikan laughed. "Hotaru, you are the last person on Earth who cares about what other people think. He's infatuated with you, Hotaru. And I'm sure everyone can see his eyes light up every time you're close." She threw an arm around Hotaru's shoulders, reveling in the way her best friend tensed up. No matter how long they've known each other, Hotaru still had the strong urge to hit her every time she got too clingy. "I don't have a problem with you guys. I thought I did, but when I think about it, I think I just liked the idea of having Ruka as my boyfriend. We were always just friends anyway."

Hotaru didn't say anything, seeming to be deep in thought. "Go see him, Hotaru," Mikan said instead. "He's probably drowning himself in tears wondering where you are."

Hotaru merely smirked and rolled her eyes. "I'll… think things through."

It was only just nearing lunch time as Mikan made her way up to her room. She was just outsde the common room entrance when Ginny appeared behind her and sighed, "Thank _goodness_. I stepped out for _one _second and forgot the password. God, my memory's like Neville's."

Mikan laughed as they both walked into the common room in time to see Malfoy's bare back walking back into his room.

Ginny fanned herself. "How do you live without _jumping _that? He's gorgeous."

Before Mikan could reply, Malfoy yelled, "I heard that."

"Go strangle yourself," Mikan yelled back in a sing song voice. She turned back to Ginny with a wry grin to her lips. "That's why."

When they stepped into Hermione's room, she was mid-way through reading with a piece of parchment in her hands. "You started without me?" Ginny inquired incredulously. "You freaks."

Aoi giggled and clapped her hands together dreamily. "Oh, Mikan, they're so romantic! I honestly can't believe a _Slytherin _came up with those!"

Mikan instantly glared at Hermione, who put her hands up in truce. "They're really sweet, Mikan. I was just," she shrugged, "I needed to see _something _that makes me have faith in the male species. After Ron…" She paused before shaking her head. "I think you should meet up with him."

"I really don't know. I still need some time to think, I think."

"Think? Hermione wrinkled her nose. "Think about what? About how perfect he is? Don't worry, honey. I already sent him back a letter saying you'd meet up with him at the South Astronomy tower at midnight." Her lips twitched. "I hope that's okay."

"WHAT?"

She dashed to her room and flitted over to her wardrobe where she rummaged throughout the contents, emptying out drawers and rifling through her trousers. She heard the door of her room open once but she was too preoccupied to bother to greet them.

"I'm going to get over Ron," came Hermione's voice.

Mikan chanced a second to pull her head out and raise an eyebrow. "Really? That's kinda fast. Do you already have a candidate in mind?"

Hermione huffed. "I didn't say I was over him yet. It doesn't happen that fast. It's just… I can't see myself with him after this fiasco. He can be such a…" There was a sigh. "I don't know. He's selfish and childish. I just can't _deal _with that. And just the thought of Ron and me together like that just doesn't sit right. It has never really sat right. You hear everyone saying it. I mean, Molly and the twins and all the time around school." She imitated a high pitched voice and said, "Aww, you and Ron would look _totally _cute together!" Hermione lay down on the bed. "I guess it just got to my head but after this, I _know _it won't work out. He's a bloody prick."

Mikan abandoned her search and lay down next to her. "You could go for someone completely different. I have to admit, I feel like a rebel going after a Slytherin," she said, putting a finger to her lips.

Hermione's next words were so soft, Mikan thought she just imagined them. "You're right. A Slytherin would be perfect."

Dinner passed without a hitch but Mikan's nerves were going through the roof. She was meeting her Slytherin Prince tonight, after all. The butterflies were attacking her, head-on. Rubbing some vanilla strawberry lotion on her hands, Mikan headed out of her common room and out of the Entrance Hall, hoping for a little fresh air to clear her thoughts and calm her nerves.

Off into the distance, she could still see the beautiful Sakura Tree by the lake. The skies were covered in grey puffs of clouds in one part of the sky and the other part was turning into a deep blue, almost indigo.

She walked towards the lake once again, her hands burrowed deep in the pockets of her jacket. It was fall, and the temperature was already dropping drastically, but that didn't stop Mikan from closing her eyes and daydreaming about her mystery boy.

He had dark hair, of that she was certain. It could be brown, black or red. Anything but blonde. With the dim lighting in the Great Hall, Mikan couldn't be sure about the exact color, just that it was not blonde. She probably wouldn't have danced with him if the boy had blonde hair. Too many early memories with Ruka. It just didn't feel right.

He had prominent cheekbones. Again, with the dim lighting, the shadows against his cheeks were emphasized to an intense degree. She remembered almost reaching up and feeling what could only be pale, soft skin. She hadn't been able to see his nose or eyes very well. Mostly because his nose was covered by the mask and because it had been pretty dark, but his eyes were dark too. There was a point where they'd danced into one of the forgotten spotlights focused on the ground and Mikan thought she saw red eyes when the light illuminated his face.

She couldn't be sure, though. She'd have to see tonight.

His lips were a light shade of pink. They were thin and looked firm and strong. Briefly, she wondered how he'd taste if they were to—No! She wasn't supposed to think of things like that yet. She'd only met him once, dammit!

A sigh broke from her lips and Mikan stifled a gasp when the ground beneath her foot gave way and she stumbled into the lake's water that had looked almost black a moment ago.

A scream rang through the air before her head plunged under the surface.

She struggled to open her eyes but it was no use. She couldn't see a thing because the water was so dark. Something held firmly to her ankle and she kicked her legs erratically. With a panic, Mikan realized trying to break free was useless. Her movements were all sluggish, at best, under water and there were so many magical creatures around Hogwarts, it wouldn't surprise her if she'd never encountered the thing before, whatever it was.

She vaguely prayed it wasn't the Giant Squid.

Her throat was straining and her eyes were stinging and she was feeling so lightheaded… In a last ditch attempt for escape, Mikan searched around in her pocket for her wand, but just as she felt the thin object, her head began to spin and…

"_Is she awake?"_

"_Oh my God, I think she's dead!"_

"_I really don't think hitting her will do the trick, mate."_

"_Should we call a teacher?"_

"_Does _nobody _not know CPR?"_

"_He does, but I don't think he'd help us, even if we asked."_

"_C'mon, mate. You can save her, do you really want her to die here and have it be on your conscience?"_

A light flickered and vaguely, Mikan registered the sound of ragged coughs. Several long seconds later, she realized they were coming from _her_. She was aware of the tightness in her throat, despite having it filled with water and the splitting headache throbbing at her temples.

"She's alive!"

She groaned and laid back against the grass.

"You okay, Mikan?"

Her body visibly relaxed when she heard the voice.

It was Harry.

She leaned on her side and some more water sprayed from her lips. A warm cloak was draped across her shoulders and she felt herself being lifted up and when she was able to, she opened her eyes to see warm green eyes staring back at her.

She groaned again. "So… scared," she croaked, burying her face into the crook of his neck. "What happened?"

His expression hardened and his lips pressed into a line. "Koko got you out because God… if I only learnt how to swim… Koko got you out but none of us knew how that whole mouth-to-mouth thing worked. You weren't breathing." He stopped in his walk and turned slightly. "_He _had to do the mouth-to-mouth."

"He?"

Harry tipped his head to the left and she followed his gaze carefully before her eyes widened in disbelief.

"He didn't want to do it, mind you, but he was the only one that knew how."

She could barely understand what he was saying because her head had started its ringing once again and soon, she was out cold.

* * *

_My Hopeless Romantic_


	7. Midnight Madness

**Disclaimer: **All recognizable characters from Gakuen Alice belong to Tachibana Higuchi. All imperfections are mine. :)

* * *

Pandemonium comes with strangers in masks.

**Chapter Six: Midnight Madness**

-;-

Her vision was tunneling, but she had enough bitter anger in her to hiss weakly, "Harry, how could you let this _happen_?"

Green eyes looked at her, faintly amused, before he looked up and his gaze darkened. "So much for fainting," he commented lightly, stopping to shift her weight to his other arm. "But think about it, Mikan. You're a smart girl; if your friend had swallowed water and was barely alive, would you get the closest person around to do mouth-to-mouth too, if you knew it'd save them?" He looked down at her and raised an eyebrow.

Mikan merely closed her eyes and groaned. She really didn't want to be rational at the moment, especially when she could hear a group of mindless girls gossiping about what they'd just witnessed.

And the giggles… god.

The sky was beginning to darken. Mikan could tell because the winds were picking up and making her _freeze _in her wet clothes. As if sensing her train of thought, her body shivered and she huddled closer to Harry's warm form, hoping to—in some way—be able to transfer his heat in order to dry her clothes. She wished she could just activate her Alices in some way to dry herself, but with so many people present, who were no doubt looking at her curiously, Mikan really couldn't risk anybody discovering.

Rumors and gossip traveled _very _quick within Hogwarts.

_Stupid busybodies._

Mikan groaned again when another spike of pain appeared in between her eyes. "Ugh, I can't believe you let Hyuuga do that to me," she whined pitifully, eyes drifting open and close. "You know how much I hate him."

"Hyuuga?" Harry sounded startled. "Oh!"

And then he started chortling with laughter, letting Mikan feel the deep rumble in his chest with the extent of his glee. His laughter was giving her a headache. Not only was the noise clashing with her already ringing ears, but she really _didn't _understand what was so funny. _Of all people, it had to be Hyuuga…_

"You actually think that I'd let _that _vile Slytherin touch you in that way?" Harry shook his head, tamping down the rest of his laughter. "C'mon! I thought you knew me better than that!"

Mikan frowned, opening her eyes into slits. "You nodded your head at Hyuuga," she pointed out, trying to look back at the spot she'd seen him. The effort was too much though, and really, she didn't want to know. "Okay then, Boy-Who-Lived, who were you referring to?"

Harry, seeing she'd tried to look, turned them both around and she could practically _hear _the smirk in his voice. "It was Zabini." He shrugged, "He's far better than Hyuuga, you have to admit. But I don't think Gryffindors and Slytherins should mix. It goes against… well, everything."

Mikan barely caught the last part. She was too busy ogling the boy who'd given her mouth to mouth and trying not to unhinge her jaw.

_Zabini?_

"Blaise Zabini?" Mikan blinked thoughtfully. "You mean, _Blaise _Zabini?"

Harry looked down at her then, clear green eyes confused, and an eyebrow rose. "Zabini isn't a very common family name, Mikan. What's wrong?"

_Oh God, it was Blaise Zabini, the smart, Italian boy who had the nicest blue eyes and tanned skin… Mhm…_

"Mikan? You okay?" She flushed red, then, and shook herself to clear her head. "Yeah, no. I'm fine. I just… think I should go lie down."

She really didn't want to jump to conclusions, but it could _definitely _be Blaise. He had the dark hair that matched the Slytherin boy she'd met the other day and oh God, his eyes were beautiful. She hadn't been able to make out the color in the dark, but oh… if it was Blaise Zabini, Mikan wouldn't mind a damn bit.

Blaise Zabini was actually _smart _and _funny _and one of the nicest boys she'd ever met, even _if _he was in Slytherin! If anything, he was the perfect candidate in being her Slytherin from the other day. When she thought about it, Mikan couldn't help but wonder why she hadn't tried putting two and two together in the first place.

She let out a cold breath and rubbed her arms to warm up. The cold wind was biting her cheeks and tousling up her hair into a frenzy of threads as she floated in the air and looked down at the school grounds with the slit of moonlight lighting up the property.

She let out another deep breath and pressed a cold hand to her cheek.

"Assuming," she said aloud to nobody in particular, "—that my Slytherin," she smiled at the possessive term, "—had blue eyes, Blaise Zabini would be _it. _No questions, it has to be." She blew out a frustrated breath and sucked in a sliver of air to compensate. "But how do I even figure out if he had blue eyes last night? I could use Noda's Alice, but then I'd end up bringing him into the light somewhere after the dance and completely changing history. Or," she said thoughtfully, "The meeting tonight…"

She groaned into her hands and quickly extinguished her Alice to land nimbly on her feet. She really didn't think she wanted to know at the moment. There were so many things going on, like Hotaru and Ruka, Malfoy being a prick as usual, Hermione going through her break-up and obviously there was still school to worry about.

But she knew that, if she didn't take this chance and go, she'd be wondering and regretting it forever. Sighing, Mikan walked back to her room and almost succumbed to the urge to just use her Alice to get her there. It would've been much quicker, admittedly, but she remembered a time when she'd teleported into her dorm room in fifth year and startled her roommates. They'd asked her how she'd appeared out of nowhere and she'd sputtered something ridiculous like they were too engrossed in their gossip to notice her. It was a flimsy excuse, but after arguing to no avail, they'd left her to it and she'd decided against laziness soon after.

"—I don't _care _what your excuses are! I don't want your Mudblood hands on my things!"

Mikan rolled her eyes and shut the portrait door, passing the two bickering teenagers to slip quietly into her room. Their fights were increasing in length and becoming more frequent. Evidently two Gryffindors and two Slytherins really couldn't be expected to get along.

She flopped dramatically onto her bed and sighed. To be honest, the whole charade with her Slytherin Prince probably wasn't worth it. She'd known it from the start, she wasn't very well liked by many in the school. She was certain she was admired by some, sure. But there were more than she could count that couldn't stand her, whether it be the marks she got in class, her 'self-righteous' attitude or whatever else that made her who she was. There was a lot of stereotyping where she was involved and she was sure, whoever her Slytherin was, be it Blaise or not, that this thing was really too much drama to take seriously.

She had enough drama in her life, and she really didn't need to add to it.

She wanted to give up on this alluring romance, but it was … complicated. She'd found herself thinking about it more than she would've liked and well, perhaps it would be profitable for her to figure it out and get it out of her mind once and for all.

"—at midnight, right?"

Mikan spazzed and bolted upright. "How the heck did _you _get in here?"

Hermione shrugged and perched on the edge of her desk, raising an eyebrow. "I've been here for more than five minutes already… and I'm guessing you heard nothing I was telling you until now."

Mikan grinned sheepishly and flopped back onto her back. "Sorry. You could've given me a little warning though. I thought you'd be continuing your little lover's spat with Malfoy."

Hermione sent her a dry look she couldn't see, but she could sense from the snap in her voice. "Anyway, you cheeky sod, you're meeting with you lover boy at midnight, right?"

"Not sure."

"What do you mean, you're not sure?" Hermione closed the door with a flick of her wand. "Seriously, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. What other girl is going to be able to say she was chasing after a masked man for the better part of a year? It's…thrilling! I'd die for a story like that!"

Mikan looked up to raise an eyebrow at her. "You would not," Mikan snorted. "You'd think it was silly if you were in my situation and you'd probably say you wouldn't have time for it. Hermione, I know you. There's a reason you're my best friend. We think alike."

Hermione waved away the comment and chucked a brush in her direction. "Hurry up and get ready. I've been dumped and I'm sad and I need to live vicariously through you. Now go, shower again. I don't think you got all of the swamp-crap off of you."

After taking another quick shower, Mikan threw on a pair of jeans and sweater before tucking her mask into her pocket. Though she was Head Girl, she still wasn't given the right to roam around the school whenever she pleased. She'd have to run for it, and knowing her and Mrs. Norris, she'd probably get scratched in the leg again. The cat had an uncanny ability to pinpoint where she was, despite using her Invisibility Alice.

She ducked out of her room and felt her heart race every moment she stepped closer to the Astronomy Tower. It was alarming, really. At this rate, her heart would no doubt implode in her chest. She was so intent on making it to the Tower that when she heard the giggling, it made her knees ache at the sudden freezing of her limbs.

_Who was out at _this _time of night?_

She debated whether she should apprehend the rebels and risk wasting the few moments with her Slytherin, or leaving them to run off while her conscience nagged at her forever. Making up her mind, she shoved the door open and heard a yelp of surprise.

"You are out after hours," she said automatically, jaw tightening when she glimpsed Ron. "Get back to your dorms."

She could think of several words to call the both of them, but none were very appropriate to say aloud.

Why was Ron going after anything with a skirt now? She understood that he'd been humiliated earlier by Hermione and probably needed comfort but _this _comfort? Really? She thought he was better than that…

She got their names and pointed them toward their dorms and when they were out of sight, she was sprinting her way toward the base of the stairs. She slipped the mask onto her face and took the stairs two at a time before she lost her breath and had to inch slowly up the remaining steps.

She turned around the bend and gasped.

There he was.

Her mysterious stranger was leaned up against a window wearing loose denim jeans and a white shirt. What made her double back and swallow thickly was the sight of the first three buttons of his shirt being undone and the sexy green tie hung loosely around his neck.

Just like that, he took her breath away.

_Too bad half his face was covered._

But even then, he was one of the most beautiful boys she had ever seen, hands down. She took several, slow steps closer to him and smiled shyly, looking into his face to make out the color of his eyes, but the way his back was facing the door, his face covered in shadows, they were still a mystery.

Her heart was racing.

"Hi," his voice rumbled, low and smooth.

Her smiled widened. "Hi," she said breathlessly, reaching the top of the stairs and walking shyly toward him. Not knowing what to do with her hands, Mikan swung them once and then clasped them behind her back. "What a coincidence that you'd be here, stranger," she said walking closer toward him, into the moonlight. She heard him inhale deeply and she smiled. "I'm sorry you had to wait a bit."

"It was nothing." He took a minute to look her over once more before a suppressed grin appeared on his face. "Well, since we're here, I figured I'd bring you somewhere."

Sirens were ringing in her mind at that, but he merely looked out the window and stuck his hand out to catch the broom flying by.

Mikan swallowed the moment she saw it. "I don't do well on brooms," she said immediately. "I mean, I'm not bad at it but this is… this is a bit much."

He made a show of rolling his eyes at her before climbing onto the broom and offering her a hand. "Does it look like I'm planning to let you fall? Flying isn't that scary." He wiggled his fingers smoothly and raised a challenging eyebrow that made a fire burn in her chest. Before she knew it, she was holding onto his waist with an intensity he probably hadn't expected. Her cheek was pressed against his back and her eyes were closed.

"Hold on."

And before she knew it, the wind was nipping at her cheeks with a furious intention and her eyes blurred. She struggled to close her eyes but the flipping of her stomach and the strangely magnificent images were brilliant as they flashed by. Her stomach had dropped to her feet and she felt the familiar feeling of uselessness as she sat, clutching onto his shirt like a little girl dreading the first roller coaster ride of her little life.

She was useless when it came to flying. The only exception, of course, was when she was using her Flying Alice and that was only because she had full confidence that she could _control_ what would happen. She hated not having control in a situation.

It frightened the crap out of her.

She buried her face into his back, his natural, masculine smell filling her nose sweetly as she clung onto his abdomen.

His voice rumbled into her cheek. "You can't keep your hands off me, can you?" He laughed freely when she pinched his stomach before he took a hand off his broom and pointed, "Look."

He didn't have to tell her twice. She was already looking at the brilliant, flashing lights and the glimmering surface of the lake.

"It's beautiful," she breathed. "Thank you for showing this to me."

"You haven't seen anything yet."

With that last word, he leaned the broom downward and soon they were nearing the ground. She sighed when her feet touched the ground and she nearly kissed it, her relief was so great.

"This is it," he murmured, walking towards the edge of the cliff and making a gesture over the pass. They were standing on some kind of cliff that made way for an ocean she'd never seen there before. The sky was cloudless, which made the moon's light that much more magnificent when reflected on the ocean's surface.

There was a moment of silence before his deep voice rumbled, "I come here to think."

She barely heard him. "Look," she whispered excitedly, "—a shooting star!"

"Make a wish."

Mikan turned around, a smile on her lips. He was standing with his hands left casually in his pockets and a small grin on his lips.

_His eyes are pretty._

Her eyes drifted closed and she smiled dreamily.

_I wish this moment never ends._

She could feel him coming up in front of her and she opened her eyes to look at him curiously, taking in the messy black hair and the deep shadows from the moon on his face. But most of all, what shocked her the most was the sight of his eyes. They were _red_. She only knew one person with red eyes.

_Hyuuga Natsume. _

Before she could let the shock set in, one of his hands, large and rough, touched her cheek, then her chin. Her eyes closed automatically when she felt his lips touch hers, meeting in a perfect, sensual kiss.

This wasn't her first kiss. She'd had wonderful, sweet kisses from Ruka and chaste kisses from Miles McCormac and Ernie MacMillan, but nothing compared to this. She didn't know what it was about him, but this kiss seemed so perfect. It was warm, soft and so…beautiful. It was a lousy way to describe a kiss, but the care and patience he displayed in the kiss made her toes want to curl and for the moment to last forever.

_But this was Hyuuga_…

Mikan pulled away and swallowed thickly, afraid to look at him. She knew it was him. There was no other way it could be somebody else. There was… only one person with red eyes in their school and there was no way somebody would go through the trouble to do a complete magical makeover to change the color of their eyes. She'd always known Hyuuga was good-looking, had known it even when they were at Alice Academy, but she supposed she'd never entertained the idea of actually _liking _him after being privy to his personality.

So why did she like this Hyuuga so much?

"There's something about you." She looked up at him quickly, surprised she'd thought so deeply about the arising issue that she'd forgotten where she was. His jaw was lax, soft and his eyes were tender, if not a little guarded. "It feels like I've met you somewhere before."

Maybe she liked him so much because he was different, different than how he usually was.

Her heart was heavy and she smiled weakly. "We've been going to the same school for years, you know. You're… you seem really familiar too."

He cocked his head slightly to the side and stepped back from her, running a hand through his hair. With the moonlight's aid, Mikan could tell his eyes were fully guarded and he was weary. Now _that _was familiar. Suddenly, "It's late. I'd better get you back."

She nodded absentmindedly and without thinking, offered her hand. She didn't realize until two seconds passed where he just looked at it. She almost pulled away but he grabbed it softly, leading her back to the broom he'd dropped to the ground once they'd landed.

She wondered why he was so quiet until they were airborne once again, giving her no real chance to escape, before he asked, "Did I do something wrong?"

Her loose arms tightened around his waist. "What do you mean?"

"You…" He quieted and thought about it. "You were enjoying yourself until I kissed you."

Mikan swallowed. "I'm still enjoying myself."

"So it was the kiss." His shoulders drooped just the slightest and Mikan didn't understand why she was in such a hurry to comfort him.

"The kiss was perfect." She could feel herself redden and pressed her cheek against his back again. "I'm sorry. It's not you. I'm just…I'm just second guessing this whole thing. What are we even doing? It's madness! We're…"

…_too different._

He was silent and stiff as they neared the Astronomy Tower and once her feet were on the cool grounds, she almost bolted to the stairs. She was afraid to meet his gaze after that tirade. But all of her thoughts about leaving were quickly extinguished when he uttered softly, "Wait."

She stiffened and hesitantly turned around in time to see him land nimbly onto his feet. He propped his broom up against the wall and took the two steps to stand in front of her. His eyes were unreadable. "This was your idea," his tone was hard.

"I know," she whispered softly. She clasped her hands together and swallowed thickly, unable to meet his gaze. "I just think… it's better if we stop this. It's ridiculous."

"Ridiculous," he echoed.

"You're a Slytherin. I'm a Gryffindor. It's against everything we know here in Hogwarts. In the end, you're not going to like who I am and I probably won't like who you are. This game…" she shook her head and looked up at him, almost earnestly, "—can't you see? The only way this game can end is with one of us getting hurt and knowing you, that's probably going to be me."

In the time it took her to say all of that, he'd tucked one hand into his pocket and his eyes were looking over her shoulder. Once she'd finished, Hyuuga merely chuckled darkly, "Knowing you, huh? So that's what it is," he said lightly, "I knew my eyes would give me away." With a flourish, he pulled his mask off and threw it harshly over his shoulder.

Red eyes flashed, pale skin illuminated and hard features made themselves present.

Mikan's breath caught.

He was so handsome.

"Let's get this straight. You don't like the person I am, so that's why you want this to end."

She couldn't breathe, much less speak.

He stepped closer to her and chuckled darkly. "I think it's only fair that you let me see who you are. This was _your _game, Gryffindor. I have to say, I'm a little disappointed to see you trying to run with your tail in between you legs. Aren't you supposed to be brave?"

She could feel the fire coursing through her veins at that and it took her every restraint not to take the one step closer to knock him in the jaw. "You are _such _a condescending creep, Hyuuga," she spat. "I was wondering how long it'd take for that side of you to come up. To be honest, the whole romantic scene you showed me totally threw me off and I started to wonder if you were actually different to how you are when we're in school but here you are, showing me exactly what I already know." She shook her head and laughed bitterly. "I should've known."

He'd inhaled roughly and the air around them seemed to warm with the anger of his Alice. Mikan tried not to smirk but it was funny. He was so easy to rile up sometimes. "And I should've known you Gryffindors were a cowardly bunch of shits that leap before you look. What, you're offended now?" He scoffed. "Let me guess, you're a Potter fan, aren't you?"

"What if I am?" she raised her chin up, nostrils flaring. "He's twice the man you could ever be. He fought in the war and saved all of us. What have you done?"

Hyuuga's face twisted into a snarl that looked to be carved from marble. "Potter couldn't save you if his life depended on it. Everyone knows without Sakura's Nullification, he couldn't have accomplished shit and then there's Potter, taking all the credit." His lips twisted. "Analyze me all you want, but you're not getting anything from me. To think, I thought a Gryffindor girl could actually be different to what I expected, but you're all the same."

"Oh, suck it up, Hyuuga. This whole disappointed façade you're putting on doesn't fool anyone. I knew the moment I figured it was you that this was all a game to you." She sneered at the look on his face and rolled her eyes. "So what were you going to do? Make me fall in love with you and then embarrass me in front of the school? Or how about stringing me along just for your sick amusement? I bet Malfoy knows all about this, huh?"

"You don't know a thing," he snarled. "Maybe if you weren't so bent on believing everything you see, you'd realize how stupid you sound." Abruptly, his lips melted into a cool smirk. "Was it working?" He asked smoothly. "Have you fallen for me yet? Because you seem to believe it enough, it _must _be true."

She bottled up the scream she wanted to let loose in her frustration.

It took her a second to see the flash of fire leaping from his palm. She waved her wand in front of her to give the impression she'd Protego'd herself when in actuality, her Nullification had finished it off the moment it'd left his palm. "What are you trying to pull?" she hissed, watching his eyes alight with the fire in his palm. "Are you trying to kill me now? What, Hyuuga can't even handle a rejection, is that it?"

He snorted, "You wish. I'm trying to blow that mask off your face so I can see who I'm talking to, since you're too cowardly to let me see it yourself. But I've narrowed the list down splendidly. You yell at me and are strangely proficient with your wand. You have brown hair and brown eyes. It won't be long now."

She stepped forward, whether in defense to the humiliation or because she was so _angry, _Mikan didn't know. All she knew was, she was _this _close to wanting to sucker punch him in the face. "This is the _last _time we meet, Hyuuga. I hope you enjoyed having me alone like this, because this is the last time I willingly submit myself to your overbearing, _arrogant_—"

He kissed her. It was angry and rough and passionate and it made her head spin, but it wasn't enough to get her to miss Hyuuga hands coming up to reach her mask. With a strength he wasn't expecting, she knocked his hands away and bit his bottom lip before crushing her lips to his for another moment. When they parted, he was panting hard and rubbing at his bottom lip tenderly. Mikan looked at him, swallowing, her mind rejoicing at the fact that she'd _made _him like this.

She turned. "Goodbye, Slytherin Prick."

He didn't answer until she was at the bottom of the steps and his voice was low enough to know that, without her Hearing Alice, she would've missed it completely. He hadn't meant for her to hear, but she heard it anyway.

He'd hissed a shuddering breath and muttered one, coherent word.

"Fuck."

* * *

_My Hopeless Romantic_


	8. Blatant Belligerence

**Disclaimer: **All recognizable characters from Gakuen Alice belong to Tachibana Higuchi and characters from Harry Potter belong to J. K. Rowling. The rest is mine.

* * *

Pandemonium comes with strangers in masks.

**Chapter Seven: Blatant Belligerence**

-;-

_"It's too late for you to turn back now," his voice was cool and low. "It's far too late for that. I've got you right where I want you."_

_A chill ran down the length of her spine, as the silky, smooth voice echoed within the confines of her mind. The voice was so familiar, with its touch of danger and edge of cynicism. She knew before she saw him that it was _Him.

_Nobody else could elicit the kind of reaction from her like he could. He was tall, handsome and mysterious, with his mask covering half of his face, like all of the other times she'd seen him. It was him. She almost wanted to smile. _

_He was so perfect._

"_I've known it was you all along," he whispered, the almost silent words teased her ears._

_Mikan trembled, his body was looming ever closer. He didn't look like the calm, gentle, easygoing guy she'd known him to be. He looked dangerous, ominous. She reached up to make sure her mask was on her face, but it wasn't there. _

_He'd cheated. _

"_What do you want from me?" she asked quietly, anger starting to course through her blood. "I thought we agreed we wouldn't reveal ourselves until later."_

_He laughed. It was a cold, forced laugh that made her knees weak with fear. His blood red eyes were smoldering with an evil amusement she didn't find comforting. His lazy hands came out of his dark, denim jeans and she watched, transfixed, as he cocked his head slightly to the left._

"_As you wish."_

_His pale hands reached up to his face and with a flick of his hand, the mask was off._

_Mikan choked back a scream._

_It was _Him.

-;-

Mikan bolted up from her sleep. She could feel the sweat running down her back and the harsh, uneven breaths making its way into her ears. Her eyes were flashing with stars and her body shivered, despite not being cold in the least.

_Natsume Hyuuga. _

Natsume Hyuuga had been her Slytherin Prince. It was almost enough to make her want to throw up. She'd thought he was perfect. She'd thought he was sweet. She'd…she had been so excited at the thought of his letters and at the thought of his smile and his presence and now… how could things happen this way? How could she have been so blind?

If only it was Blaise Zabini, maybe then she wouldn't want to throw up all her organs and never leave her room. But it was Hyuuga, Natsume Hyuuga. And he'd showed her last night how much of an idiot she'd been for the past few days, fantasizing like a common girl and hoping Slytherins could be any different.

"_Have you fallen for me yet?"_

The question from the other night made a shudder run down her spine and she thanked the Gods, for once in her life, that she had normal, boring features that would make Hyuuga's search a little harder. And she thanked God that she'd found out about Hyuuga before she had gotten too deep. She was well on her way for falling for him, she knew. The Hyuuga that had danced with her, that had written to her and who'd brought her to the cliff, that Hyuuga had been beautiful. He'd been charming and funny and Mikan could honestly feel herself falling for a boy like that.

Thank God she hadn't.

She stumbled into the bathroom, immediately locking eyes onto Hyuuga's bathroom door. The thought of him made her stomach curl into springs and immediately, she bolted the lock with her eyes.

She wanted to scream.

To think, they'd been sending each other letters from next door. No wonder the owls had come so quickly. Again, she couldn't help but wonder how she could have been so thick. Mikan wanted to smack herself in the face several hundred times until she could _rationalize _properly. How could she not have known?

_He must know_, she concluded, once she'd changed into her school uniform and was seated in the Great Hall with a plate of breakfast in front of her. He must have been trying to make a fool out of her. He'd always hated her, ever since they were in Alice Academy and now he was finally pulling out his last weapon. He'd hurt her in every possible way. He'd embarrassed her, he'd hurt her physically, he'd said things that had killed her self esteem, and now he was going after her heart.

The thought made her stomach roil in apprehension.

"Mikan! Hello?"

"What is _wrong _with you today?" Hermione frowned, her eyebrows were bunching together in a V. "I've been calling you for hours! And don't you dare lie to me. You know I know you better than that."

Mikan rolled her eyes and took a bite of her breakfast, thinking quickly. "Nothing, I just have a lot on my mind."

A devious smile made its way across her face before Hermione leaned in to whisper, "What happened last night? You came in pretty late and I didn't want to bound into your room before Hyuuga and Malfoy complained about me squealing."

Mikan paled noticeably and bit the inside of her cheek. Hermione caught the action before her brown eyes widened. Her eyes looked around at the others at the table, barely listening to their conversation. She dropped her voice a notch and asked, "Later?"

Mikan nodded and Hermione gave her a small pat on the back before promptly ignoring Ron's pleading glances and making conversation with Aoi. Downing a glass of milk, Mikan pushed through the crowds and retrieved her books from her room, and ran to class when the bells rang. She slid into Advanced Transfigurations before the final bell toned.

"Alright class," McGonagall called sternly, eyeing the class. "Today we'll be practicing—"

Mikan found it doubly hard to concentrate, especially knowing Hyuuga was sitting just a few seats behind her with his usual crew of little creeps. She knew without turning her head that Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott were present. The other Slytherins could only wish to be smart enough to take Advanced classes.

They were practicing transfiguring pigeons to pillows and she could glimpse, from the corner of her eyes, that Hyuuga was as calm and as unruffled as ever. It made an angry streak of anger alight in her eyes and with a low bellow of the spell, she'd successfully transfigured the bird. Hermione gave her the thumbs up. She'd gotten it on the first try as always, and Hotaru and she were in the process of reading up on more Advanced Transfigurations.

Mikan took her seat after showing McGonagall and followed suit.

Before she knew it, the bell tolled to signal a change of classes and Mikan jumped up to head to Ancient Runes, realizing that she'd learned _nothing _after the one Transfiguration. It was enough to make her pale. Already, Hyuuga was distracting her.

When she'd settled into her seat, it took Koko only two seconds to bounce to her side and rustle into her bag for her homework. "Let me guess," she said dryly, "You forgot there was homework again?"

He smiled sheepishly and smoothed out his homework. "No! I actually did some of it! I just… didn't… It wasn't my fault! Mutant worms were attacking me yesterday and it took all of my strength to get out of the mole hill and back to my room! By then, I was too exhausted to think of anything that made sense and I fell asleep until an ancient ink bottle—"

Mikan cut him off with a snort. "Let's just hope _somebody _believes your excuses because I certainly don't."

He grinned. "Mochu and Kitsuneme probably would. They're idiots." Before she could laugh, Koko was looking around the room with a peculiar expression on his face. His eyebrows twisted in confusion before he blinked. "Huh, that's strange."

"What?" Mikan asked, looking around the room. It was a mixed class of all Houses who were taking Ancient Runes and it didn't take her long to spot Ruka and Hyuuga and Zabini in the mix. Mikan turned back and eyed Koko warily, "What is it?"

Koko shrugged, reading over her homework and jotting down notes onto his. "Nothing really. I just thought it was funny, Hyuuga was thinking about Hermione just now. Something about being a 'bloody Gryffindor who jumped to conclusions and didn't know better' or something like that. I shouldn't be surprised though. Those two don't get along well, huh?"

Mikan wanted to laugh. This was all too much! Did he think it was Hermione the whole time? The one that was supposed to be his Gryffindor? Wow, this all worked a little too well for her tastes. Mikan slumped in her seat and smiled widely, "No, I suppose they don't."

-;-

Out of nowhere, two heads popped up beside her and took her by the arms, dragging her to an empty classroom. Mikan panicked for all of two seconds before she realized who it was and calmed. Instead, she looked around the room before commenting, "What on earth is that _smell_?"

Hotaru rolled her beautiful violet eyes in annoyance and took out her Baka Gun. She raised an eyebrow, as if asking if she really wanted to be hit by it before sitting atop one of the classroom desks and looking at her thoughtfully. "What's up with you? Granger told me something happened."

Her black hair was cropped short like a boy's cut but she had this messy, grungy look that looked like she had just gotten out of bed. It was tousled and sticking out in some areas but she made no move to tame the wild threads. A purple hair band kept most of the wildness in the back and only her bangs escaped the hair band's hold. Only Hotaru could pull that look off, on someone else, they would look like a boy.

"Is this what the kidnapping is about?" Mikan raised an eyebrow.

Hermione scoffed. "I'd hardly call it _kidnapping_, really. Just holding you against your will."

"Right… that clears _everything _up."

Hermione clapped her hands together and grinned. "Let's cut to the chase, what happened last night?"

"And why didn't you tell me about him?" Hotaru narrowed her eyes. Hermione put a soothing hand on Hotaru's shoulder and the gun was lowered, hesitantly.

Mikan frowned. "You had other things on your mind. I didn't think you needed to be burdened by my stupid dramas."

Hotaru grumbled. "You know I always have time for you."

Before Mikan could say anything, to tear up at the heartwarming statement, Hotaru glared at her and waved her hand to get her to hurry up the inevitable. Mikan merely sighed. "You guys aren't going to believe what happened." After inhaling quickly, Mikan recounted her story and waited with her eyes downcast as the two processed.

Hermione looked at her blandly, "You think your Slytherin Prince is Natsume Hyuuga," she said blandly. Mikan nodded and before long, peals of laughter rang in the air. Mikan frowned quickly. "You guys don't believe me." She crossed her arms defensively across her chest.

"You guys hate each other! It's pretty difficult to imagine!"

"I know," Mikan said, frustrated. "That's why I don't get it. But I don't think… I know. He took his mask off after I basically told him I knew who he was and didn't think it was smart for us to continue acting like stupid teenagers or—"

"You are teenagers," Hotaru intoned bluntly.

"—Anyway, he took his mask off and it was him. I'm not entirely blind and I think I'd recognize my arch nemesis without barriers," Mikan rolled her eyes, watching as her two best friends exchanged looks of disbelief.

"So you saw him?" Hotaru clarified.

She nodded. "Red eyes, black hair, strong bone structure and perfect proportions. Now don't look at me that way, you _know _it's true. He's pretty damn good looking for a Slytherin." Hermione's expression of disgust dropped into one that was sheepish. Hermione whistled.

"I'd call you crazy, but I know you wouldn't lie about something like that. Some other girl would," Hermione conceded, "—but not you."

"When you think about it," Hotaru said thoughtfully, twirling her Baka Gun with a finger, "—I never did understand why he hated you so much back at the Academy. I thought it was because he liked you, but I'm pretty sure all of us can agree, Hyuuga isn't _that _petty to bug a girl like that because he likes her. But…" she shrugged, "—maybe he really is that petty and before he knew it, he got so used to giving you a hard time, he could never stop."

Mikan didn't believe that in the least. She shrugged. "Either way, I said some mean things to him and he said some mean things back and I think it's safe to say we are _not _going to be meeting up again like that."

"Did you want to?" Hotaru asked. "You don't like him, do you?"

Mikan didn't even try to hide the horrified look on her face. "Of course I don't! I thought I might like the person he was, but then I realized it was _him _and all thoughts on _that _front totally crawled into a cave and died."

"What if that was him though?" Hermione spoke up thoughtfully. She blinked and waved her hands in the air to bat away the looks on Mikan's face. "I'm just _saying_, who knows? Maybe Hyuuga really is a bit nice underneath that sexy exterior. Ginny was right about one thing, not all Slytherins are evil. I mean, Hyuuga even helped us out during the War. That has to say something about his loyalties and about his sense of morality. He may not be the most pleasant boy in school but maybe he's really not as bad as we make him out to be."

Mikan thought it over and shook her head. "Hyuuga was an _ass _yesterday. He said…he called me a coward and called Harry an idiot and compared me to all the other girls he's made fall in love with him!"

"You did try to run away from him," Hotaru pointed out lightly.

"And since when does a Slytherin _not _make a jab at the most Gryffindor Gryffindor?" Hermione added. "And Harry _is_ an idiot, sometimes. I mean, how could he actually take Ron's side after what he did?"

"That's beside the point," Hotaru muttered, "—if you think about it, you'd know that those 'mean' things he said were weak. I'm sure what you said was weak too."

"I don't know," Mikan murmured, "I said some things that were pretty uncalled for. I called him a liar and said this was all a game to him and I wouldn't fall for it. I called him a typical Slytherin and I said he was stupid to think I'd fall for him."

They were quiet for a moment, letting everything sink in. Mikan wondered what it'd be like to believe he really _was _interested. She wondered what it'd feel like to know that Hyuuga had really been interested in _her _as a person. Mikan had never truly felt like a human with everybody believing her to be the smart Head Girl who worked at her studies and hung out with Hermione and Hotaru. She knew many didn't like who she was. But Mikan liked to think she was more than just a girl with a thousand Alices. And being with Hyuuga, begrudgingly, made her feel like she was nothing more than a girl and he was nothing more than a boy.

She felt… normal.

"Let me get one thing straight," Hermione murmured finally. "He doesn't know who you are, right?"

At this, Mikan laughed.

Both girls looked at her in confusion.

"Funny you should ask that," Mikan smirked. "According to Koko, Hyuuga's had his eye on _you. _Apparently we look so alike, he thinks the 'stupid little Gryffindor' is you."

At this, the three girls laughed.

At the back of her mind, Mikan thought she heard the green monster in her brain say, _you wish he was thinking about you._

_

* * *

My Hopeless Romantic_


	9. Temporary Truce

**Disclaimer: **All recognizable characters from Gakuen Alice belong to Tachibana Higuchi and characters from Harry Potter belong to J. K. Rowling. :) The rest is mine.

* * *

Pandemonium comes with strangers in masks.

**Chapter Eight: Temporary Truce**

-;-

Mikan was _not _feeling well.

Her body felt flaming hot and whenever she tried to open her eyes, all she could see was the pitch darkness of her room. Her mind alone felt like a dark chasm. There was an unlimited amount of thoughts stuck in her brain, but as she lay alone on her bed, alone in her room, her face a mask of unshed emotions, she yelled in frustration as the migraine that she had been having for the past half hour pummeled the last of her nerves.

Her brain felt like it was going to _explode._

She tugged at her uniform, trying to figure out the buttons on her shirt. She was so fucking hot, she wanted it to _stop. _"Damn…_you_, Hyuuga!" She gritted out hoarsely. She groaned loudly and twisted her shirt in her hands before she heard a loud crash from the other room that sent her migraine in a tailspin. Lights flashed in front of her eyes.

She thought she heard somebody call her name.

She didn't bother to move from her sprawled position on the bed. She was too weak and too tired. Her eyelids drooped to a close as she heard loud footsteps pounding against the tiled bathroom floor and then a louder slam of her bedroom door.

Did _nobody _understand she was in fucking _pain _here?

She groaned again, panting with the intense heat wrapping around her body. Vaguely, she could hear Hyuuga muttering something. She really didn't care what he was so angry about. She was too tired of thinking about the stupid prick.

She was too tired to yell at him to get out. She had skipped out on dinner and sprinted right to her room after the little confrontation with her two best friends and had laid in the same position for more than three hours.

Natsume's intense glare narrowed on the squirming figure on Sakura's bed and clenched his fists. He didn't need this. Not now. "Do you _mind _shutting up? Whatever you're doing, do it when everybody's not sleeping. Idiot."

His temper was already at an all time high ever since the night before and it didn't help that whenever he tried to approach Hermione, in either neutral or caustic fronts, all he received was a laugh. A _laugh_. _Bitch_.

He watched Sakura for all of five seconds, for a reaction, but nothing left her lips but uneven breaths and the rustle of her sheets. He moved closer warily, "Don't be a bitch, Sakura." She was still wearing her school uniform, which he thought was rather strange. A quick, cursory glance told him she was sick. Her hair was messy and matted with sweat stuck to her forehead, her breathing was still harsh and her cheeks were pink, even in the low moonlight streaming through the window.

He cursed under his breath and ran a hand through his hair, wondering what the hell he was supposed to do exactly when she started mumbling in delirium between sharp pants.

"Stupid…Hyuuga. Thinks he…bastard…toying wi…hate…mmrrrgh…" He rolled his eyes heavenward and swore again, pushing aside his amusement when she started _tearing at her shirt. _She rolled over on her side and groaned. Her cheeks were a rosy pink, her lips a deep pink hue. Her perfectly sculpted eyebrows were arched in a frown. She knew he was there. She kept slipping in and out of the world of consciousness but she couldn't seem to answer his questions. With a jerk of her arm, she tugged at her shirt in vain.

His eyes widened when he could have sworn a button popped off, leaving her shirt gaping more than it previously was. "W-what…What the hell are you doing?" He spluttered, feeling heat radiating up into his neck. He almost jumped when her hot hand clutched onto his wrist.

She was scorching.

Reluctantly, he lifted a hand and pressed it lightly against her forehead. Vaguely, he thought, if she was conscious, she'd kick him in the nuts for touching her like this. At the forefront of his thoughts, he marveled at just how hot she was. Being the Fire Alice, he would know better than anyone.

He put his hand back on her forehead and she sighed from his cooler touch, as ironic as it may sound. He watched as she pulled fiercely at her shirt again, trying to take it off in vain.

_She's probably dying from the heat_, he thought calmly. Without another thought in his mind, he pulled her vest off over her head and then proceeded to unbutton her blouse after making sure she was wearing a tank top underneath. He chucked the two articles of clothing to the side and stepped away from her.

Mikan breathed with a sigh of relief, her body considerably less hot than before, but still, very hot and uncomfortable. After a moment, the heat started to suffocate her once again and she was gasping for air.

Natsume watched as she moaned again, her cheeks still a deep pink and her forehead still slick with sweat.

_What now?_

He watched the rise and fall of her chest as she heaved air in and out of her lungs. Her small body was frail and weak. Her slightly tanned skin shone in the dark, her brown curls flushed around her face like a halo.

She was losing control. The heat was too strong and she knew she wouldn't be able to control her emotions any longer. The chasm in her mind was growing darker, endless, and she was drowning in the emptiness and in the heat.

She could feel the control devices on her body weaken, the fibers of her body going beyond its breaking point and the threads of her resistance slowly breaking apart. Her body was on fire and her mind was exploding with pain. She needed to get out of her room, get out of everyone's way before chaos erupted in the castle.

With heavy limbs, she rolled off the bed and dropped to the ground. Staggering to her feet, she lurched toward the door, grasping blindly for the knob before Hyuuga's smug voice stopped her.

"Where the hell are you going?"

She sucked in a tight breath before yanking the door open, breathing, "Don't…don't follow me."

Her body felt heavy and light at the same time. It felt like some powerful being was trying to pull her body apart, piece by piece. The throbbing in her temples multiplied tenfold. She didn't know why panic didn't hit her when she realized she couldn't feel her arms slapping her sides as they dangled uselessly at her sides.

The attempt to force the portrait door open was futile when she toppled over with the effort. Breathing heavily, Mikan tried to push herself up onto her hands but her sweltering body protested the efforts and the pain in her limbs were so strong, she had to bite her bottom lip to contain the sharp scream of pain she so desperately needed to release. The taste of rust on her tongue made her stomach turn.

Her body hummed when Hyuuga's voice said softly, "Hold on, Sakura."

She moaned quietly when she felt his cool hands lift her easily from the floor and despite wanting to tell him to leave her alone, to let her do this on her own, to leave before it was too late and she showed him _everything, _all she could manage was a whimper of pain that made him clutch her closer.

"Shut up while I take you to the infirmary," Natsume grumbled. He adjusted her in phis arms and felt uncomfortably warm at her close proximity. Her body was absolutely drenched with sweat, it was disconcerting. What the hell had happened to Sakura to make her so sick, he wondered. This kind of reaction from the normally very composed and energetic Head Girl was almost enough to cause him to panic.

As it were, however, all Natsume wanted to do was drop her off at the infirmary and get himself back into bed. The day had gone from bad to worse. He really didn't need this shit, that was for certain.

As if she could read his mind, Sakura's body tensed like a wooden board and he heard the distinct echo of metal clatter noisily against the cold hallway floor. She struggled, her temperature rising exponentially and he thought he could hear her mutter, "No…no…no…"

His footsteps increased in pace. "What the hell is happening to you," he whispered, concerned.

She struggled, pushing uselessly against his chest. "Let me go," she whimpered desperately, shifting in his arms. "Mnngh, you…"

"Get a hold of yourself, Sakura," Natsume growled, stopping in the hallway in order to twist her arms behind her back tightly. "Behave or I'll drag you to the infirmary with your hands behind your back, dammit."

She started crying softly. Natsume immediately let go of her hands and started walking quickly toward the Hospital Wing. Vaguely, he could hear her mutter tearfully, "You don't understand…danger…go of me…! …control…"

Sweat drenched her hair to her forehead and she was clutching so desperately onto his shirt and she looked so weak, Natsume almost pitied her for the condition she was in. If she wasn't such a stubborn, annoying pain in his side, he'd actually feel for her.

As that thought passed through his mind, he felt her body stiffen against his chest and a sharp anguished cry split the night. "NO!"

-;-

It was chaos.

Natsume didn't know what the hell started happening. One moment he was holding Sakura in his arms and jogging down the hallway in silence, the next moment the whole fucking place was trying to kill him.

Harsh winds sliced through the air and bit at their exposed skin, leaving it tender and dry. Portraits were sent flying off the walls and Natsume noted, briefly, that even the people in the paintings tried to run for it. Classroom doors whipped open so forcefully, they splintered to pieces, hanging uselessly off hinges.

Natsume's head whipped back and forth as the heat from Mikan's body became exceptionally hot. His eyes widened as he attempted to dodge the many projectiles flying through the air with Sakura still perched in his arms like a ragdoll. It was fucking insane.

Chairs and desks dangled motionlessly in the air as pieces of parchment raced out of the doorways. Cushions, textbooks and ink bottles sailed against the walls and clattered noisily against any available surface that fell victim to the inexplicable storm.

Before he knew it, his forehead was drenched in sweat and his legs were aching with the strain of carrying an almost full grown women as the hallway behind him practically lit up with fire, burning through portraits and books with ease.

The high-pitched screams from the paintings rang through the air like a knife.

"What the hell is going _on, _Sakura!"

She lay limp in his arms. Her lips were a pale pink and her voice was hoarse and weak. "I'm…so sorry…"

The ground beneath him cracked apart as vines and bushes came sprouting from the ground, tangling with the useless objects and snaring his legs. His legs were locked in place by the branches and with a growl, he burned the restraints.

_The fuck was going on?_

Spurts of vines came shooting out of the walls and with a bend of his knees, he stumbled backwards as water came flowing from behind him. The wind slicing his arms still managed to hinder him. Burning the remaining roots and earth from his path, he sprinted down the corridors and took a left to the Hospital Wing.

He didn't care about Sakura. The Hospital Wing would keep the _both _of them safe from what the hell was happening in the hallway. What the hell was happening? He kicked at the door and it opened easily, much to his relief. He placed her onto a nearby bed and collapsed into another as he heard loud, muffled voices approaching. The sounds of pounding footsteps became clearer and clearer as the objects within the Hospital started to rise slowly.

He'd never been so relieved to see the five professors burst through the doors in long swaying robes and wands in hand. Dumbledore, McGonagall, Narumi, Persona and Snape immediately looked at him and before he could so much as open his mouth to explain what he was doing in the Hospital Wing, McGonagall was at Sakura's side with a hand placed gently on her forehead.

"What happened to her, Hyuuga?"

He didn't know if he answered or not, because he was too busy watching as Dumbledore placed a hand on her forehead before conjuring a tub of ice from thin air. Natsume watched transfixed as her body was moved effortlessly through the air and lowered gently into the ice. The contact with her body made a sharp hiss within seconds.

Her head drooped slightly to the left, still unconscious.

Natsume broke his gaze away from her in order to glare at the five teachers. "What is going on out there?"

Vaguely he could hear Sakura's sighs of relief as ice continued to tumble from the tip of Dumbledore's wand. His eyes switched and followed Persona's figure as his fingers dipped smoothly into the water in the tub. A smirk tugged at his lips. "I think more control devices should suffice. This problem should be prevented at all costs. With the damage she's wrought on the school in the span of several minutes, I believe it's prudent to take precautionary measures from here until she graduates," he said coolly, his voice mocking and low.

Dumbledore agreed as he dumped in another load of ice into the tub, the liquefied ice disappearing before the water poured over the edges. He then turned to Natsume and smiled a small, regretful smile. "Your questions will be answered in time, Mr. Hyuuga. For now, I believe it'd be best if you went to bed."

Natsume looked at him in disbelief. "You're kidding me." When Dumbledore merely smiled in that patronizing way of his, Natsume clenched his fists at his sides. "After running through _that _mess for her," he nodded in Sakura's direction, "I think I deserve an explanation for this shit."

McGonagall tutted his profanity and shook her head. "These are confidential matters, Mr. Hyuuga. Please understand that and trust that we've got this situation under control."

Snape sneered, speaking for the first time. "He saved Miss. Sakura's life. He deserves compensation. There have been far too many close calls and this one only shows us just how unstable she is. The whole school must know something is wrong with all of the racket she's created."

McGonagall narrowed her eyes. "You want compensation, Mr. Hyuuga? Then 100 points to Slytherin. We're not telling him anything that's not his to learn."

Dumbledore nodded sagely. "Agreed, Minerva. Mr. Hyuuga, this is not our secret to tell. She will tell you when she is ready. She's done a lot for our school and the least we can do is to do her this one favor she's asked of us, Severus. The other students will not know of this. The other professors are in the process of cleaning up the mess now that she's brought back to a temporary stability."

"I want to know," Natsume repeated firmly.

McGonagall made to disagree when a voice interrupted them all. "It's alright," her voice was soft. Natsume's head whipped around to meet doe-like brown eyes in return. Her tone was clear and patient, if not tired. She stepped out of the tub, holding firmly on the sides for support and wrapped the proffered robe around her dripping clothes.

She stiffened visibly when Persona stepped forward and Natsume narrowed his eyes, wondering what the hell their relationship was with each other. All questions were answered when she rolled up her sleeves and he clamped on a dozen, thin metallic bracelets on both arms. He remembered hearing metal clatter in the hallways… perhaps they were control devices. Why would Sakura need so many control devices?

He was pulled from his thoughts when Persona handed her the box he'd brought with him. With a sigh, Sakura took the box, sat on the ground and proceeded to secure anklets and and rings on her fingers. Three earrings went in each ear and two necklaces dangled from her neck.

She closed the lid of the box and the contents clanged within.

Persona looked smug. "When you get to your room, put on the other ones I gave you."

Sakura ignored him and looked up at Natsume with tired eyes. "Are you sure you want to know about this?"

He grunted his assurance.

"You must promise not to tell a soul. I need your word, Hyuuga."

Her expression startled him and he wondered, idly, if he really wanted to know. Curiosity won over any other emotion and he nodded his head almost imperceptibly. "I promise."

She stared at him, uncertain, her gaze never lifted from his, her eyes searched deep into his ruby ones. His skin tingled upon her fierce gaze, her eyes lingering upon his. She broke contact and sighed. She fingered one of the bracelets idly and looked at Dumbledore, who nodded his consent.

She drew in a deep breath and looked directly at him. Vines came sprouting from the ground. Thunder clapped from one corner of the room. She looked like she was concentrating on a spot just over his shoulder as a row of flames appeared along the ground with water dripped in a circle around them.

She looked up at him almost painfully. "Do you understand now?"

With a wave of her hand, flowers tumbled from the ceiling and littered the ground as a biting wind nipped at the petals.

"You…" He blinked and looked at Snape, who looked bland and unimpressed. "You're… doing all of this?"

"Yes," she whispered softly, waving a hand to erase everything he'd seen. She smiled at him sadly, propping herself back up onto her feet. She shrugged her shoulders, looking at the point over his shoulder again. In a voice, melancholic and pained, she said softly, "I'm a monster. I'm sorry."

And in a flash, she was gone.

-;-

Natsume was frozen.

Could that actually have just happened? She could control _everything. She _had been the one to create the chaos that was in the hallway. _She _was the reason he'd had to burn his way through binding vines and flying fucking books. What the hell was wrong with her? How was that even possible? Everybody knew she was the Nullification Alice. She couldn't have more than one Alice, could she?

"You promised not to tell a soul," Narumi reminded him grimly. "Mikan is a Multi-Alice User. I'm sure you've realized."

Natsume shook his head. "How is that even possible?"

He barely noticed Persona leaving with a smirk.

Dumbledore sighed sadly. "Mikan is a talented girl, but she doesn't see her gifts as a talent. She's know about these Alices for a while now, almost four years. And yet, despite all of this time, she continues to see herself as a monster. She's helped this school in ways nobody really understands. She doesn't think the other students will understand her abilities. In this way, she believes she's a monster and I believe, after this display of power around the school, it's only reinforced her suspicions." Dumbledore sighed sadly and shook his head. "I wish something could show her the truth."

"Which is?" Natsume glared. "She almost killed me!"

McGonagall shot him a stern sneer. "If you could look past that, you'd realize she needs to accept the fact that her abilities make her who she is. I'm asking you, not as your professor, but as a concerned adult…Mr. Hyuuga, help her understand who she is."

Natsume's jaw clenched to prevent it from dropping in surprise. He laughed incredulously, "You've got to be kidding me. We hate each other."

It was quiet before Dumbledore shook his head. "You can help her, Mr. Hyuuga. It's been foreseen."

…_huh?_

Dumbledore merely smiled, that secretive smile of his, before turning to leave. With a hand on the doorknob, he reminded cheerfully, "Remember to keep your word, Mr. Hyuuga. You must tell no one about this."

And he was gone. They were all gone, leaving him alone in the room full of cots and beds. He clenched his fists and left the room, looking at the aftermath of the disaster.

It was hard to believe that bookworm Sakura had created this.

It was hard to believe that she could have millions of Alices.

All he could remember was her weak body enveloped in his arms, sweltering hot and limp.

He turned the corner slowly where teachers were at work, trying to clear the mess before them. His eyes darted to the side where Mikan stood with her eyes closed as the objects around her were cleared away. Her body tensed when she felt him draw near. She didn't meet his questioning eyes as she rounded a corner and out of sight.

"… _help her understand who she is."_

Without thinking, his body moved after hers, following her out the doors to the outside world. It took him but a second to glimpse her lithe form sitting at the lake's edge, her back leaning against the Sakura tree.

He inhaled sharply, already knowing he'd regret whatever the hell he was going to do next.

He approached slowly, fully aware that she knew of his presence. Stopping just short of the lake's edge, he paused for a while. He wanted to give her the choice to run again if she wanted to, or stay. He didn't know what the hell he was going to do. After deciding she'd had enough time to make her decision, he half-turned and glimpsed the Sakura tree. "Funny, I've never seen this Sakura tree before."

Her head slowly moved to look up at him and he was momentarily stunned at the sight of her sorrowful eyes. She waited a beat before shrugging softly, "I created it."

It took a moment to sink in. Sakura's voice cut in before he could utter another word. "Look. Say what you want, Hyuuga. I know you're probably just itching to call me a freak," she snapped harshly.

His temper spiked at her accusation and he had half a mind to just leave her to her own devices. She'd always had her little assumptions and preconceived notions about him and he wondered, yet again, why he even _bothered _with her at times. She was so annoying.

Reigning in his anger, Natsume walked to the other side of the Sakura tree and sat against it. "True. You're a freak." He could feel the heat of her glare despite not even being able to see it. It almost made him grin. "—but you're a freak for other reasons. Sakura, you might not be aware but you read textbooks ahead of time _for the fun of it. _You're unnaturally responsible for a seventeen year old girl. You have an obnoxiously loud voice. You smile for no reason. You stand up for people who've wronged you. The list just goes on and on because Mikan Sakura just _can't do wrong._ _That_ makes you a freak," he said, looking back at the school with a stubborn heat inching into his cheeks. _He really wasn't used to this kind of honesty… _"Your Alices have nothing to do with it. Believe me. If anybody knows how much of a freak you are, it's me."

He stood up.

He felt like an idiot. The professors had told him to make her see who she was, to see that her Alices were nothing more than a characteristic that defined her… and here he was, feeding her disgusting compliments like they hadn't been enemies in the last several years. Honestly—

"Thank you, Natsume."

He stood in the same spot for a second longer than he had planned and then started away. There was no reason for the dark hint of heat creeping into his cheeks. This was Sakura. Mikan Sakura. This was nothing more than a truce between them. A ceasefire. A Christmas during the war. Come tomorrow, all bets were off, the game was back on and he would be _done _being the good gu—

"W-wait…!"

Natsume inhaled sharply before turning, right when she bounded to a stop at his feet. Her eyes widened almost comically before she looked down at her feet. She glanced upward quickly and bit her lip, almost as if she were angry. "Uhm…I…just…" She bit her lip again. "Just…give me your hand!"

He regarded her like a circus freak. "You already have two. Why would you want mine?"

She stuck her tongue out at him, glaring, before she grabbed at his hands. He cringed; his skin was still rough and raw, flushed pink and red with blood. He turned away from her curious eyes before he felt a soothing warmth engulf him. When he glanced back at his hands, a faint blue color was receding and his hands were flawless and as strong as they used to be.

"There," she whispered hesitantly, looking up at him from underneath her eyelashes. "Good as new."

He watched, fascinated, as a faint pink tint brushed across her cheeks. Before he knew what she was doing, she'd leaned in to place a warm, soft kiss on his cheek.

"Thank you, Natsume."

Then, she was gone.

Blinking quickly, he fought the urge to press a hand to his cheek like a girl. He could still feel the faint imprint of her lips against his cheek…Half recognizing her scent and half wondering whether he should smile or beat somebody, Natsume shook his head and headed back into the castle with her soft voice in his head.

"_Thank you, Natsume."_

_

* * *

_

:)


	10. Murky Mistakes

**Disclaimer: **All recognizable characters from Gakuen Alice belong to Tachibana Higuchi and characters from Harry Potter belong to J. K. Rowling. :) The rest is mine. Enjoy!

* * *

Pandemonium comes with strangers in masks.

**Chapter Nine: Murky Mistakes  
**

-;-

_I can't believe I just kissed Hyuuga on the cheek._

That was the sole thought in Mikan's head and just running the sentence through her mind once more made her scowl darkly. What in God's name had possessed her to do such a thing? She'd tippy toed like some common fangirl and planted a kiss on Hyuuga's cheek. _Hyuuga's cheek! _Was there _not _something wrong with her head or were there aftereffects of her breakdown that she wasn't aware of?

She grumbled, resting her cheek upon her open palm. At the back of her mind, the voice told her she'd already kissed him before…on the lips, at that, so it wasn't a big deal. But when she reasoned to herself further, she hadn't exactly _known _it was him when she kissed him. She had absolutely _no _excuse to explain why she'd just kissed him on the cheek. She was going crazy, Mikan decided. That was the only way to explain it.

_But in a way, Hyuuga had been kind of sweet._

At present, she was sitting in front of the vanity in her room. The mirror was bordered with a beautiful pattern of golden ripples and red jewels were encrusted within the expensive element. Her small basket of make-up sat in front of her patiently waiting for use but Mikan wasn't in the mood to do anything but look back at the perfectly straight and beige piece of parchment with the broken serpent green seal.

…It was from her Slytherin Prince: Natsume Hyuuga.

She ran a pale, slender finger along the edge of the paper and traced lazy patterns on the empty spaces, while her brain mixed the words together. The letter read:

_Dear Mysterious Gryffindor,_

_You're killing me here. Don't you think we should give this thing another shot? Look, I'm sorry for giving you a hard time yesterday.  
I was just…frustrated that you would care so much about the stereotyped Slytherin. Not all of us are what you believe._  
_Meet you again?_  
_Natsume_

Mikan sighed again and fingered a beautiful silver necklace with a startlingly clear, ocean blue pendant in the shape of blue flames. She smiled softly and thought unconsciously that the blue flames on the pendant matched the sensitive side of him. He was being a little more obvious…now that she knew who he was.

She peered lazily at the mirror and looked closely at herself and she frowned at the image she saw. She was just a little too…ordinary for her liking. There was absolutely nothing special about her. Maybe that her hair was a little too wild after she woke up like a bird had made its home in her hair while she was asleep. Or the small specks of black mirrored in her dull brown eyes. She had a normal nose and too pale cheeks…she wanted to pinch them to get a little more colour but what was the point? She would've loved to be a little more special. So that maybe she could make Hyuuga's heart beat as fast as hers had with one quick glance.

She put a hand on the fabric covering her heart and felt a faint _bu-bump bu-bump _of her heartbeat. Even the thought of him made her heart beat faster. She groaned into her hands. If he hadn't helped her out with her losing control, she wouldn't be feeling like this, at all, she thought. Because now that she'd see him actually _trying _to be nice to her, it changed something within her. Just a little bit, but it was enough.

She didn't have long to ponder those questions though because with a glance at the clock on her wall, she fingered the necklace one more time and placed it gently on her desk before hurrying out of her room for breakfast.

Mikan had just walked out of the common room when she heard a faint call of her name and soft footsteps but she figured it was just another figment of her imagination. And speaking about her imagination, she had had a very vivid dream about one Natsume Hyuuga, a branch on the Sakura tree and a very bright and full moon…just thinking about it made her blush to the roots of her hair. She was having dreams of Hyuuga kissing her in _her _Sakura tree. How messed up could her imagination _get!_

By the time she was halfway towards the Great Hall, the sound of annoying chimes were heard throughout the school. The scraping of chairs and the sounds of cutlery and china tinkled and wove together into a beautiful melody. Mikan sighed again before heading towards Transfiguration, not at all in the mood to see Natsume's face after their slightly awkward and unprecedented encounter.

She groaned under her breath and tucking her books underneath her arm, she shouldered her way past the other lazy students and let her feet take her to her first class of the day.

* * *

By the time Mikan made it to her first class, the professor had already started the lesson and it was with great embarrassment and utter surprise that she was made to sit beside Blaise Zabini.

Who was Blaise Zabini? For starters, he was a clever individual with creative hobbies like painting and archery. He had the clearest, most beautiful set of ocean blue eyes that she had ever seen and the finest black strands of hair in a semi-neat flicker away from his forehead. He had a lean body and a brilliant smile. But the most delightful thing of all was that he had one of the kindest personalities ever. The only downside? He was a Slytherin. But it was Blaise Zabini that made a small voice at the back of Mikan's mind whisper her insecurities about Hyuuga. If Zabini wasn't so bad, then perhaps Hyuuga could…

It was pointless to hope. She'd known Hyuuga all of her life and he never made it a point to spare her of his terrible attitude and personality.

She wanted so badly to give Hyuuga a chance but Hyuuga and Malfoy weren't renowned for their heartbreaking ways for no reason. Perhaps she could give him the benefit of the doubt from now on without actually dating him or anything…She really didn't want to judge somebody just because of their House. Ginny was right. It was wrong. She always thought of herself as somebody accepting and giving Slytherins some room for doubt wouldn't kill her.

Reaching that conclusion, she snuck a glance over her shoulder to catch a glimpse of Natsume. He was looking out the window with a frown on his face as always and with his eyebrows furrowed like that, Mikan wondered what was on his mind to make him look so bitter.

She could read his mind. It would have been easy, but there was a certain responsibility she put on her shoulders. With as many Alices as she had, it would be wrong to use them for her selfish wishes. It would be wrong to break through the barrier that was meant as a sanctuary for every single person. She wished she wasn't so mature at times because it was moments like these that made her wish she could use her powers for her own reasons.

She felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end and it took her a second to locate Malfoy's grey eyes and a slim, pale blond eyebrow raised in her direction. The unexpected expression made her realize how ridiculous she must look, trying to catch a glimpse of Hyuuga. She turned back to the front, effectively giving herself whiplash. She flushed in embarrassment.

He was never going to let her get away with that without giving her a hard time first. She didn't need a Mind Reading Alice to tell her that. So she ducked her head down and felt the rising heat in her cheeks and lightly scolded herself for being so obvious. Her heart was just starting to simmer down into a mild pitter-patter when she felt a small tap on her shoulder. Her body tensed and her muscles stiffened. She turned with an automatic smile on her lips only to find ocean blue eyes on her.

"Sakura," Zabini's eyes were quizzical. "Why are you so jumpy today?"

She pretended to be puzzled. "Jumpy? I didn't realize. I'm just a little tired and everything keeps catching me off guard, that's all." She nodded at that excuse and sent him a small smile. "Did you need help with something?"

He merely smiled kindly. "Nothing at all. You looked a little paler than usual, Sakura." He gathered his books and stood up. "Get some rest, hm? We don't need a Head Girl who's dead on her feet. You'll feel better by tomorrow." He smiled once more, making his eyes twinkle and a small dimple appear in his left cheek before he waved a hand in parting.

_Fuck if he wasn't so cute._

* * *

"So Zabini, huh?" Hermione said in a conspiring whisper. When Mikan looked up to reply, Hermione's expression was apologetic. "I'm sorry I didn't save your seat beside me. But hey, you got to sit beside that Slytherin hottie and I got to sit beside Kitsuneme. I figure that's a good trade."

Mikan smiled. "Yeah, it was fine. Blaise is really sweet."

"He is, isn't he?" Hermione said wistfully. "Oh, before I forget…you _definitely _forgot something precious in your room this morning." She pulled out the silver necklace from inside her shirt, unclasped it from her neck and handed it over to Mikan. "You should be wearing something as pretty as that everyday," Hermione scolded playfully.

"Why did you have this?" Mikan asked, taking it from her hastily and stuffing it into her pocket. "I put that in my room!"

She looked sheepish. "You ran out of our common room as I was asking to borrow one of your ribbons. I knew you wouldn't mind, and my hair would look positively horrid if I didn't put it up, so I went into your room and I found this on your desk," she explained quietly. "I thought it was a shame to leave something like _that _unused. It's so beautiful."

Mikan instantly forgave her with a shrug. "If you think it's so stunning, you can borrow it for the day," she said without thinking. "Just don't show it off."

* * *

"Hey Natsume, what's with the scowl on your face?" Sumire asked.

He shrugged and loosened his facial muscles, hoping she would let the subject drop but after glancing in her direction, he could tell she wasn't going to close the subject. Her dark green hair was hanging on one side of her head in what looked to be a ponytail. Her sharp green eyes glared at him under thick make up and layers of concealer.

She was wearing - oh, he could hardly care about what she was wearing - all he cared about was trying to understand why Hermione Granger was his Gryffindor Princess. She was, after all, holding the necklace that he had sent her that very morning. The only other person that could possibly be his Gryffindor girl, would be Mikan Sakura and he highly doubted that Mikan Sakura could be that personable around him.

Sumire's expression softened and she frowned just the slightest. "Natsume, we've been friends since we were eleven. You can tell me what's wrong, you know," she said quietly, putting her weight on one foot and then on the other.

She seemed genuinely concerned and much to his chagrin, she was right. She had gotten over the typical fangirl phase and had actually become a tolerable person to be around. He grunted in annoyance. Perhaps it was better when she was a fangirl. Then he wouldn't have to think about her worrying about him.

"It's nothing. Just thinking," he grunted, making his way across the room and leaning back into a plush leather chair in front of the blazing fire. Lazily he lifted his right palm up and threw more flames into the fire. There was simultaneous crackling of timber and the Slytherin common room was bathed in an angelic light.

"Okay, well think away. Just don't hurt yourself," she said with a laugh in her voice. He heard a faint shuffling from behind him and from the corner of his eyes, he saw Sumire's mop of green hair exiting the room.

With a sigh of relief, he stretched his arms high above his head and peered unblinkingly at the wild fire before his eyes. He couldn't believe that Granger was his Gryffindor girl. It was impossible. He didn't have a thing against the Muggleborn brunette at all, it was just that… she seemed a little boring? Perhaps that wasn't the right word but he couldn't believe the easy conversation and the biting wit came from Granger. She never spoke two words with him. If anything, she had a thing for Malfoy anyway. He couldn't believe that she could be the girl that he had spent hours during the dead hours of the night, pondering about. He couldn't believe that she could be so… _intriguing_.

Perhaps he'd been wrong about her all along.

His ruby eyes disappeared behind his eyelids as he blinked away the bright lights of the fire and shook his head. When had he become like this? When had he become such a lovesick fool without him noticing?

_Damn that Sakura!_

Sakura?

Where did that come from?

He smirked at himself. "I was thinking about Granger not Sakura," he assured himself quietly, relapsing back to his pensive mood. A few minutes passed by and he still had not uttered a single word. He didn't budge an inch from his position and nor did he make single sound. He had to confront her about it. Granger, that is. That was the only way he could ever find out if there was really anything to be obsessing about.

As he planned out how to get her alone, a loud voice bellowed, "I NEED A CHALLENGE!"

It was Malfoy. Natsume turned his head to face the doorway to the Slytherin common room. His face was split into a grin and his platinum blonde hair was mussed up. Natsume assumed it was due to the broom in his hands. His stormy gray eyes were alight with determination as he sauntered through the door and plopped down onto the couch facing his companion.

"Hogwarts is getting boring, Nat." He leaned forward with mischief in his eyes. "How about we make a bet? I need something to make me get up every morning."

Natsume arched an eyebrow delicately, waiting patiently for the descriptions of this 'bet' but when he didn't get one, he sighed and looked back into the fire. It was only a matter of time before Draco lost his patience and explained his proposition. From the corner of his eyes, he could see Draco's eyebrows furrowing and the look of annoyance passing across his face.

"You're a real killjoy sometimes, you know that?" he muttered, "Fine, fine. I'll tell you." He leaned forward unconsciously. "I know about your Gryffindor chick. You're head over heels for her. In your own way, I guess." Natsume wondered where exactly he was going with this. "What we _both _don't know is what her name is."

_Ah. _

Malfoy grinned slightly. "Yeah. So to put you out of your misery, if you don't find out her name by the end of the week, with reason, then you'll have to…" he sat back and pondered quietly, wringing his hands for an idea, the wheels in his head turning. Natsume could practically feel the light bulb glowing above his head because at that very moment, a thought jumped into his mind. He grinned wickedly. "If you don't find out by the end of the week, you'll make out with Mikan Sakura," he declared. There was an extra glint to his eyes. "With tongue."

It took him about ten seconds to shrug. For some odd reason, he didn't really mind this bet. It wasn't as if he hadn't been wondering what it would feel like to have her lips on his. It was a sobering fact, but he'd admitted it to himself long ago…Mikan Sakura was unattainable. She was the Forbidden Fruit with cute pink lips and big brown eyes and that temper of her made him want to shut her up the only pleasurable way he knew how.

He licked his lips and tried to dispel the naughty images from his mind. Instead, he drawled, "And if I do get the name? What then?"

"Make this interesting," Draco grinned.

Natsume thought about this for a second before smirking. "I'll think of something good. Make one of the Head Girls fall for you perhaps."

Draco's smirk widened immeasurably and he fought back an ear-splitting laugh. He thrust out a hand and together they shook. "You are too easy, Hyuuga," Draco announced haughtily. "Ready yourself, mate, because Malfoys never lose bets. You'd better brush up on your skills. Wouldn't want Sakura to have something to hold over your head when you make out with her, huh?"

Natsume smirked readily, leaning back onto the couch and put both hands on the back of his head. "Well there's always a time for everything, Malfoy, because this time you will lose, because Hyuugas? We never back out on a challenge."

_Never say never._

* * *

_My Hopeless Romantic  
_


	11. Daunting Discoveries

**Disclaimer: **All recognizable characters from Gakuen Alice belong to Tachibana Higuchi and characters from Harry Potter belong to J. K. Rowling. :) The rest is mine. Please Enjoy!

* * *

Pandemonium comes with strangers in masks.

**Chapter Ten: Daunting Discoveries  
**

-;-

There was no way on Earth or in Hell that Natsume was going to lose this particular bet.

It was true, Hyuugas never backed out on a challenge and if Malfoys never lost bets, then he would have to show Draco Malfoy how wrong he was. If there was one thing about him that was certain, it was that he was proud. He couldn't stand seeing how much of a jackass Malfoy could be sometimes and putting him in his place would surely bring his ego down a notch.

That and Natsume liked to win.

So with a determined expression etched deeply in his face, Natsume marched through corridor after corridor, his hands clenched tightly at his sides, clenching and unclenching on nothing in particular. His eyes were fierce, his eyebrows set in a firm position just above his eyes. Many stopped to look at him. He remembered Shouda telling him he had this mysterious aura about him that went well with his constant detached personality. He blamed the attention on that.

She'd said he looked even more alluring when he was moody. This made him wholly uncomfortable. He could trust her with her honesty at least, Natsume thought vaguely. Honesty was a hard thing to come across these days, especially with those self-righteous Gryffindors always thinking they're high and mighty.

His eyes clouded at the thought of his Gryffindor girl.

How could he be so completely smitten with her despite meeting her less than five times? Was it the fact that she'd been so mysterious? Or beautiful? He never thought of himself as a shallow person. Maybe when he was younger but definitely not now…but the more the thought about his attraction for this girl, the more it seemed to point him in that direction.

The only way to get _over _her was to find out who she was. Once the allure was gone, then he'd be back to his old self again. At least, he hoped so anyway.

The faint rustle of his crisp green shirt echoed sullenly in the darkness of the night, along with the rhythmic clicking of his expensive, black dress shoes. Looking forward, his eyes traced the faint outline of light shimmering near the Great Hall and he scowled out of his thoughts, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his pants. This was sure to be a _lonngggg_ night. He was just thankful that it was a Friday, even though he had been planning on doing something else…

_Damn Malfoy. Bailing out on me at the last minute._

He mentally swore to give his cocky companion a good punch in the face in the morning. He had three more days to find the name of his Gryffindor girl and he wanted to spend the night plotting as to how he would approach Hermione Granger. She was his lead, after all. As he rounded the corner with a frown on his face, he was met with two Gryffindor girls who looked up at him in surprise.

"Where's Malfoy?" Hermione asked, looking past his shoulder.

He scowled. _How could she be his Gryffindor? _She was absolutely obsessed with Malfoy.

She huffed impatiently and looked over at him once more. "Where's Malfoy? I heard he was supposed to fill in for you today."

He frowned visibly and shrugged his shoulders. "He bailed and I was forced to go."

The steady ring of his masculine voice buried itself in Mikan's mind and she stood rooted to the spot, a hot flush threatening to reveal itself on her already pale, ivory skin. How could he do that? How could he make his voice sound so velvety smooth? It was amazing. If she had heard her own thoughts about two months ago, she would've gagged and proceeded to vomit but _now…_ he had grown on her. He wasn't as bad as she thought he was.

"Well, that was _nice_ of you," Hermione said dryly. She frowned before marching past him and into the hallways of the school. From over her shoulder, she called out, "Come on. Let's get this over with so we can call it a night."

Mikan frowned. It seemed like they were all frowning tonight. Sure, she could understand Natsume's frown and her own, but why was Hermione frowning?

She mentally reminded herself to ask later and followed quietly behind Hyuuga and Hermione. The silent shuffles of feet and the rustles of fabric echoed loudly in the quiet of the night. Mikan peered out of the large glass windows and glimpsed the beautiful full moon that cast a faint glow over the castle walls and created immeasurable shadows. And even though the darkness wasn't always the most beautiful thing ever, she found herself entranced. Because it _was _beautiful. In its own way. And she wished she could be too.

"We should split up. It'll be faster," Hermione sighed, stopping with her hands on her hips, looking at the two other teenagers for approval.

Natsume shrugged predictably and grunted.

"I don't mind. This place has too many levels for its own good. I'll take the West and South," Mikan volunteered, looking at the both of them. "Why don't the two of you take the East and North? I'll probably finish faster anyway."

The two didn't budge.

Mikan rolled her eyes and started away, tossing over her shoulder, "Oh c'mon. When you've covered the East and North ends, you can call it a night. I'll deal with the other two." She waved a hand over her shoulder and dashed off with her Alice.

She'd rather be alone than together in an awkward silence. Besides, she still had a lot of pressing matters to think about. She whizzed by the empty corridors the paintings swayed along with the force of her speed. She dashed through every twist and turn, poking her head into each classroom, making sure there wasn't anybody out during the night, before continuing on her patrol. It was easy to determine that no one was out tonight, even the quiet padding of spiders could be heard because everyone safe for the three Heads and perhaps a teacher or two, were sound asleep.

So quick as a rabbit, she bounded through the corridors with lengthy strides. Sometimes she wondered if it looked like her feet actually even touched the ground. When she was finished her rounds, she dashed off to the Astronomy tower. It was there the moon looked best…

* * *

The rhythmic clicks of two pairs of shoes echoed loudly in contrast to the unbearably awkward silence.

Natsume and his companion made their way through the corridors like their separated counterpart, except these two were slow and doing their job in a tedious silence. There were no need for words as Natsume checked the hallways and Hermione peered quietly into the classrooms for inspection.

Patrol duty had to be the most tedious job of all the Head duties. They could terrorize little kids in the younger years but there was only so many kids to torture. There weren't very many troublemakers in the school and those that _were_ troublemakers, had either already been caught and learned their lesson or wouldn't dare step out at night for fear of an intimidating Natsume Hyuuga or Draco Malfoy catching them.

Natsume didn't even know why he even bothered to check the hallways after hours anymore. No one would be out, and even if there was someone out, who cared? He certainly didn't. He muttered a low oath under his breath and arched an eyebrow at a startled Hermione. "What?" he bit out.

Her brown eyes widened and she glared at him, then shook her head and continued their route. He followed quietly after her, watching her back closely while his mind detoured with thoughts of the forgotten bet.

_Damn._

He was supposed to be confronting her about the necklace right about now. He cursed under his breath and quickened his pace until he was one step behind her. Hermione whipped her head in his direction and scrutinized him with narrowed eyes. She looked suspicious. All of those fucking Gryffindors were suspicious.

His eyes darted to the space in front of him and with a flick of his finger, a small fireball burst in front of Hermione's foot. She squealed in surprise and jumped backwards, bumping against Natsume's chest. He grunted as Hermione scrambled off of him and pointed a quivering finger in his face. Her face white with horror and a blush jumped to her cheeks with embarrassment. A hand flew to her heart and she gasped in a breath.

"What do you think you're _doing_?"

He arched an eyebrow at her in amusement. She dug her hands into her robes and fished out her wand. "Tell me what your motives are or I'll curse you into oblivion," she snarled angrily.

He rolled his eyes.

"There was a spider on the floor," he said with a light shrug of his shoulders, "You would've stepped on it."

The death grip on her wand relaxed but she kept it pointed in his direction. Her mind processing his answer quickly before she countered, "Then why didn't you let me step on it, if the spider was going to get killed anyway?"

He shrugged again and drawled, "What do you want? A report? I was bored."

She growled under her breath and turned on her heel, not before muttering, "Guys are such _losers_, they do anything just for the fun of it!"

He smirked a little before following afterward. "No… girls are just boring. They don't take risks because they care so much about what people think," he retorted sullenly.

Her eyes flashed over to him before she quickened her pace, though she was slightly surprised because that had to be the longest conversation that she had ever had with the Slytherin boy. He easily met her pace and she huffed silently.

"What do you want with me, Hyuuga? I can tell with that ridiculous smirk on your face that there's a little plan formed in the depths of your imaginative brain," she spoke calmly, her easy strides in control and confident.

He arched an eyebrow and smirked again. The girl was blunt. It would make things easier for him.

"Where did you get the necklace?" he asked calmly and when she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, he indicated to her neck and her mouth formed a silent "o" before she blushed and looked away.

"_That_, Hyuuga, is none of your concern. Now let's finish the next two corridors so that we can call it a night. I'm tired and I don't need you rambling about something insignificant when I can be off to bed," she replied, shooting him a narrowed gaze before striding down the hall.

He grabbed her roughly by the arm and she yelped in surprise when he slammed her, none too gently against the stone walls, thankful that no portraits were there to witness the scene. "Let go of my wrists," she ground out in a low whisper.

"The necklace…where did you get it?" he drawled, his voice clipped and detached.

Hermione's eyes bulged out. He was acting as if slamming girls into the walls, holding their wrists captive was a normal routine for him! She struggled in his grip and had an urge to kick him where it counted but refrained herself. She stopped resisting and glared him in the eye.

"Why do you _fucking_ want to know?" she snapped.

He looked deeply into the depths of her eyes. Sure, they were brown but they didn't glow with those weird black specks in them. And she smelled different…like some kind of flower instead of what she was supposed to smell like. His Gryffindor girl smelled of musky strawberry and vanilla. The realization made him sick with relief.

His eyes narrowed on Granger, taking in her pink cheeks, before he drawled, " Well it would be nice to know why you have something that used to belong to me." He flicked at the necklace and said calmly, "This necklace is one of a kind. I could recognize it anywhere."

He waited patiently for an answer as she visibly struggled. "This necklace…how do I know it's yours?"

He blinked and then smirked in slight irritation. "You'll just have to take my word for it," he answered, looking down at the short girl. Her bangs flopped down before her eyes and she blew them out with frustration and eyed him warily.

Damn, this guy was hot.

She sighed warily and cocked her head to the side, "And _why_ on Earth would I take _your _word for it? You're a _Slytherin. _You aren't exactly known to be trustworthy."

He clicked his tongue and his eyes smoldered impatiently, "You should be a little more mature, don't you think?" he asked with a smirk to his voice. "As Heads of this place, we're supposed to be putting aside our house rivalries and be able to talk civilly by now," he replied sternly with sarcasm dripping off his tongue. "Besides," he leaned in to whisper, "—I know for a fact that this isn't yours and there's an easy way to get you talking," his light tone held a threat in its depths.

She sighed and frowned. "It's not mine, I'm not going to lie about it, but it's not yours either. It belongs to a friend of mine and don't you _dare_ try to tell me she stole it because she didn't," she bit out sternly.

Natsume's breath hitched and his heart sped up. But when he replied, his voice was calm and cool as ever. "Then what, pray tell, is the name of your dear friend?" he asked, feigning indifference.

"And why do you want to know?"

The grip on her wrists tightened and she blew out her cheeks. "I want to speak with her," was his simple, refrained reply.

_He was so close..._

"It's—" he held his breath and his grip slackened when her eyes widened in disbelief. "Wait a fucking minute! Don't you _dare_ tell me _YOU _are her Slytherin prince!" She gaped in horror and if her hands were free, she would've gasped with a hand over her mouth in surprise.

His eyes narrowed as he tightened his hold on her wrists, causing her to wince. "Just _tell_ me what I want to know, then I'll let you go," he said through gritted teeth.

Her eyes alighted with pleasant surprise and she grinned from ear-to-ear. "So you _are _her Slytherin Prince!" Her eyes had widened with glee and Natsume's ire doubled when she continued to _ignore _his question. She smiled at him slyly. "You know, Hyuuga, your letters are _really_ lovely."

He grimaced in embarrassment and cursed the girl before him. If only she would _tell him what the hell he wanted,_ then he could put this damn encounter behind him. He groaned and mentally reminded himself to demand a reason why his Gryffindor girl would find the need to show his personal letters to her friends, when he found out her identity. This would spread through the school like wildfire if anyone heard that Natsume Hyuuga actually had a soft side. He grimaced again and fought the urge to burn the whole place down, witnesses and all.

"She was right then," Hermione said thoughtfully, gazing at nothing in particular. "She was right about you."

He snapped.

"Right about what?" he said dangerously, his voice low with untamed emotion.

She smiled and shrugged her shoulders, her wrists still in his death grip. "She kinda guessed that it was you," she replied, unaware of the fact that she had made his heart sink. "She even freaked out about it because she hated who you were," she continued, further squeezing the life out of him, "I freaked out too, I mean - _you_ couldn't possibly understand, of course - but you were _really_ mean and cruel to her."

His hands slid off of her wrists and hung resignedly at his sides as he regarded her coolly. He had found out the reason why his Gryffindor girl hadn't replied to any of his letters. Because she hated who he was. Simple as that.

So why…_why_ was it so hard to accept?

He turned and continued the patrol duties, leaving a stunned Hermione in his wake. She soon snapped out of her trance, he thought, because he heard the faint clicking of her shoes becoming louder each passing second, until she matched his pace. His lips and eyebrows were set to a frown.

He was angry…_furious_. He just wanted to punch someone in the face or find the comfort of_ burning_ something into a pile of ash. He had to do _something_ to release the pent up anger building at an astonishing pace within the confines of his heart.

He couldn't breathe, he could explode any second.

"You know," Hermione said quietly, her hands clasped in front of her as she walked silently behind him, "I think she's falling for you, though. Hard and fast."

"Oh yeah?" he said sarcastically, balling up his fists, ready for a fight. "Then why the hell doesn't she want to see me anymore, huh?"

She growled under her breath and slapped him hard on the arm. It didn't do much to subdue him.

"You don't _understand_, you moron! She thinks she doesn't deserve you… that you'll be repulsed if you ever found out who she was. Her identity," she said seriously. "And frankly, I wouldn't be either. You were always so cruel, albeit it was mostly Malfoy but you didn't say a thing to jump to her defense, or anybody's defense for that matter. God, guys can be so insensitive," she said angrily, swivelling on the balls of her feet and proceeding to march away.

Natsume was left stunned as he processed what he had just heard.

"We're done patrolling, by the way." Hermione tossed over her shoulder. "Now get lost before I say something that we'll both regret," he heard her say as her figure slowly disappeared around a corner. He snapped out of his thoughts and hurried after her and it wasn't long before he caught up.

_Girls were sure slow_, he thought at the back of his mind.

"What's her name?" he insisted a little too eagerly for his liking, "Just tell me her name and I'll stop bothering you, I swear."

She glared nastily at him and her hands met her hips impatiently. "I'm not going to tell you Hyuuga, she would kill me!"

He made a sound of protest before she cut him off with a wave of her hand. "Just know that it is _no way in hell_ me and that you shouldn't give up. She's worth it," Hermione replied and with a sigh and a light wave, she left him.

And he didn't have the energy to go after her.

He fought back a scream of frustration and with his ready balled up fist, he pulled his right fist back and launched it at a wall.

Not a good idea.

His eyes stung with the pain in his knuckles… or what _used to be…_ his knuckles and he examined them through the thick haze of his vision. There was blood and lots of it. He wouldn't be surprised if it was broken. Oh _God_, how could he be so _stupid_?

Fighting back the urge to shout, he made his way through the hallways, carrying his broken hand in a tender way so as limit the pain. He marched down hallway after hallway, blinded with pain and making his way to wherever the hell his feet wanted to bring him. Was it the Hospital Wing? Or was it to the bathroom? He couldn't care less. As long as he could just _die._

A light gasp made its way to his ears and he looked up in surprise. _Who the hell was that…?_

"Natsume?" It was a soft familiar voice.

And suddenly the clouds before his eyes disappeared…because it was Sakura and she had just used his first name.

"Oh God…" she whispered, stepping away from her perch by the window. "What happened to your hand?" She was at his side in seconds and he replied without thinking, "I punched a wall."

She peered up at him, startled, and he couldn't help but think at the back of his mind, that she looked so small. She looked concerned and amused at the same time. "…and _why_ would you do that?"

He didn't answer her because she was reaching to take his hand gently into hers and she looked so focused, with her hand hovering in the air like that. And as the familiar faint glow lighted on the palm of her hand, he noticed she looked very pretty with the blue light worshiping her fair skin. The way she frowned with concentration left a faint tug at his heart.

He discarded the thought as the light vanished and she patted the back of his hand assuredly, a look of obvious distress on her face. "Do you feel better?" she asked carefully, not letting go of his hand.

"You called me by my first name…" he said in a whisper.

Her eyes were as round as saucers and she blushed under his fierce scrutiny, before asking again, "Do you feel better?"

"Yeah, I do," he replied, because he _did_ and not because his hand was no longer causing him pain_._ Damn, this was frustrating. She let his hand slide slowly back to his side and turned her head to the right with a faint blush polishing her fair skin. His heart jumped to his throat and it seemed like his hands, his body, had a mind of its own because he grabbed her roughly by the shoulders and turned her body to face his.

He didn't care that his knuckles were still tingling with after-pain and he didn't care about the gasp of surprise that came out of her lips. He cupped her cheek with one hand and let the other travel to rest at the prominent curve of her waist before looking at the surprise in her eyes and the flutter of her eyelashes.

And without another thought in his mind, he leaned down towards her, his nose barely brushing against hers as their lips met into a soft, gentle kiss. Her lips were like ghost feathers against his own, barely brushing against his and when he cracked one of his crimson eyes open, he was surprised to see that her eyes were closed. He pulled back a little to smile and then pressed his lips back to hers before she could gulp down a breath of air.

And he couldn't help but think hazily that their kiss was perfect.

She was shy and hesitant, her hands timidly making their way to a hold around his neck. He could tell she was on the tips of her toes and the thought made him want to grin. The kiss was soft and gentle, like the shy caress of the wind against your neck. But oh Lord, was it warm and addictive. Her body was warm and her skin was so smooth against the rough feel of his.

And it was familiar…

…because their lips fit together so nicely that it took his breath away. The way she moved her lips gently against his made his stomach bunch together. And before he knew it, he had deepened the kiss, opening his lips unconsciously and urging her to do the same. And even though he was sure that her mind was as hazy as his, she hesitated shyly before doing the same, allowing their tongues to meet.

He had never actually done the tongue thing before. It was weird, feeling the slide of her tongue against his but oddly enough, he _liked _it. It was alluring and strangely intimate and it left him breathless. His heart caught up in his throat.

They broke apart and Mikan turned away, tucking her head against his collarbone. Natsume shivered as goose bumps broke the surface of his skin as she continued to pant cool breaths onto the skin of his neck. Her arms were still around his neck and she shivered along with him. Natsume's hands hung loose at her waist, his head propped up onto the top of her head as he panted at the same pace as her, breathing her lovely scent.

There was silence between them until she stiffened.

Natsume's eyes flew open.

Her eyes were wide and her cheeks went pale. "We j-just…oh my God…" she swiftly untangled her arms and pushed him away roughly, trembling all the while. She had lost her ability to speak. Without a second thought or word, she whipped around, her milky soft auburn tresses brushing against his cheek, before she fled down the stairs of the Astronomy Tower.

And Natsume?

He gaped at her retreating figure, because before she left, he had recognized the scent that came from her skin and her hair. It was the familiar musty mix of strawberry and vanilla.

He gasped, holding fiercely onto the window ledge until his knuckles turned white.

…_Mikan Sakura had been his Gryffindor Princess all along._


	12. Questionable Quidditch

**Disclaimer: **All recognizable characters from Gakuen Alice belong to Tachibana Higuchi and characters from Harry Potter belong to J. K. Rowling. :) This Harry Alice is mine. Enjoy the chapter!

* * *

Pandemonium comes with strangers in masks.

**Chapter Eleven: Questionable Quidditch  
**

-;-

It was a beautiful day.

The skies were a clear baby blue with wispy splotches of white clouds that dotted teasingly across the sky in small snowy clumps. A damp feeling clung onto the air. The Forbidden Forest was looming at one side of the school acting as a shelter from the sun's rays. The quick passing of shadows and the menacing growl of threats whispered its warning to all students.

The grand castle of Hogwarts school was easily the most captivating sight the Hogwarts' grounds had to offer. With its carefully rounded turrets to the grand lining of stone bricks and welcoming feel of the open doors, Hogwarts was more than a place to study. It was a place to be with friends and family. It was a place to meet new people and learn life's lessons. It was a place to feel safe and a place to call home.

The Great Hall was surprisingly quiet; the gentle scurrying of a mouse passing to inspect the Great Hall for crumbs and leftovers was all there was to hear. The classrooms, usually riddled with students and teachers with desks and parchment, quills and ink bottles were emptied of all life. There was no trace of a human in sight, not a whisper or rustle of cloaks or the rhythmic tapping of shoes across the stone grounds.

Where on Earth were these people?

The only time in which the castle was uninhabited would be during summer break and everyone had fled from the school in hopes of getting away from the horrors of learning or teaching.

Or… there was a Quidditch match.

It was December, the beginning of the frosty winter season.

The only Quidditch match that could cause such a stirring from the students of Hogwarts School was between Gryffindor and Slytherin.

It had to be known to all in the school since the last couple of decades that there had been an obvious rivalry between the two houses. Whether it was to see who had the most house points, who had the better Prefects, which houses the teachers liked best or who had the newest brand of quills. There had been a rivalry between the two houses…a rivalry that sizzled like bacon in a frying pan and that blazed like oil in a bonfire. Each and every student in the two houses carried a deep loathing for the rivalling house.

And Quidditch was just another excuse to prove which was better.

The Quidditch pitch was gigantic. More than a dozen football fields could find a comfortable place to inhabit because there was a large expanse of earth solely reserved for the popular sport. There were three elevated ring-shaped goal posts on either end of the Quidditch pitch that was comprised for the scoring area of the game.

The game of Quidditch comprises two teams of seven with three Chasers, two Beaters, one Keeper and one Seeker. Along with these players, there were three different types of balls: The Quaffle, the Bludgers, and the Snitch.

The Chaser's responsibilities are to take the Quaffle and score points by throwing the Quaffle into one of the three ringed hoops at the opposing team's side. Each goal was 10 points. The Beaters deflect any Bludgers that head for their teammates and aim them at the opposing team by using their bats. The Keeper's job was to keep the Quaffle from getting into the ringed hoops, preventing the opposing team from scoring points and the Seeker must try to get the Golden Snitch.

But the Golden Snitch is special… with its walnut shaped body and faint, spidery wings, it avoids capture by flitting from one place to another in the blink of an eye. The Seeker that captures the Golden Snitch first earns his/her team 150 points and therefore, usually ensures the team victory, but these players are usually very skilled, cunning and athletic.

For Gryffindor, there was the legendary Harry Potter, who had Luck's continuous support.

And for Slytherin, there was Draco Malfoy, one of the school's main heart throbs.

* * *

Players and their positions:

The Chasers for Slytherin are: Youichi, Natsume and Blaise.

The Chasers for Gryffindor are: Aoi, Ginny and Koko.

The Beaters for Slytherin are: Mochu and Kitsuneme.

The Beaters for Gryffindor are: Dean Thomas and Kaoru Nendo.

The Keeper for Slytherin is Theodore Nott and for Gryffindor it is Ronald Weasley.

* * *

The tall bleachers surrounding the whole Quidditch pitch held a mob of crazed fans. The difference in support was substantial. One side of the pitch held Gryffindor lovers, wearing golds, yellows and reds, waving banners and screaming loudly. One particular fan wore a hat in the shape of a lion that held a serpent in its jaws.

The other side of the Quidditch pitch held those that supported Slytherin. Only the Slytherins and a few of the Draco/Natsume Fan Club members were roaring with their support and their green and silver apparel. The bleachers in between these two teams were the indecisive or those that didn't really give a damn and just wanted to watch a good game.

The teachers had a box, high up in the sky where they could watch the game better with Casey Jordan as commentator. The position was handed down from his brother, Lee Jordan, and with a bold edge to his voice, Casey was determined to keep up the Jordan family name as commentator. His voice heightened by magic, he leaned against the sturdy wall of the teacher's box and looked at the gathering of students watching enraptured, waiting for the players to hit the field, mounted on their brooms.

The whole game was to take place high above the earth, mounted on flying brooms, a dangerous distance from the ground. A fall could easily kill or permanently damage, no matter how many potions and magical means they used.

Casey Jordan cleared his throat. It went unnoticed as it mixed with the roaring cheers and shouts from the enormous crowd, pumping their fists in the air and clapping their hands in patient attendance. Madam Hooch, the referee for Quidditch matches, gave him the thumbs up from her perch, hovering a few meters from the ground on her very own broom.

With a practiced voice and a bold growl, he cleared his throat again and said, "G'morning everyone! I trust that you'll hold onto your pants and skirts because today's match will be one hell of a ride! - _ahem - _I'm sorry professor, I was just expressing my love for the game - yes, yes - I promise not to say "hell" anymore."

The crowd laughed as Casey visibly rolled his eyes and proceeded to comment, "Alright, well this match will surely be a great one with two of the best houses in Hogwarts, though we already know that Gryffindor will win, I mean come on, we've been winning even before Harry Potter walked into th- _right, right, I'm sorry Professor - NO WAIT! I promise I'll behave, I promise! - _pretend you didn't hear that everyone!" he said with a sheepish grin on his face, "And here comes the Slytherin team, led by the captain, Natsume Hyuuga!"

As Casey's deep voice boomed throughout the Quidditch pitch, the doors from the Slytherin change rooms opened with a muffled bang and wearing his familiar green and black robes, his unruly black hair, tousling even more along with the slight breeze in the air, walked Natsume with an expensive broom clutched in his right hand as he squinted away from the glare of the sun. His eyes scanned the bleachers filled with awestruck admirers watching his every move. After scanning the crowd, he lifted his gaze to the teacher's box where he zeroed in on Casey Jordan and to Casey's right, stood Mikan.

He would have stopped right where he was if it wasn't for the sharp shove from Draco that urged him forward and with a glare over his shoulder, Natsume proceeded to the middle of the Quidditch pitch with his team. All the while, Casey named all of the players.

"—And finally, the Keeper that mangy Nott fellow - _ouch! - Alright, alriiiight… I'm behaving!_" Casey's voice continued in a whine. He shook his head and moved his head to the left. "And now here comes the winning team, Gryffindor! Everybody, let me hear you _scream_! Team Captain Harry Potter with Weasley, Yuki, smaller Weasley, Koko, Nendo—"

And as he continued to list off the names, Harry came out of the Gryffindor change rooms wearing his red and gold uniform, trudging with a shy smile on his face with his trusty Upgraded Firebolt slung over one shoulder, making his way over to Madam Hooch at the middle of the Quidditch pitch. Trailing behind him was the rest of his team that included an excited Aoi and a pair of Weasleys blushing crimson.

With names and introductions of both teams over and done with, Casey moistened his lips and turned around to face Mikan with a grin on his face. Pointing at her boldly, he half-laughed, half-yelled, "And finally Mikan Sakura, who will once again, take the post of Nullifier to make sure there is no magic and no Alice use out on the pitch during the game because we all know that those slimy Slyth - _I mean - _lots of the Quidditch players like using their Alices and magic on the field_."_ Casey looked pointedly at Mochu and once again the crowd laughed.

Mikan rolled her eyes and smiled gently before she jumped onto the ledge of the teacher's box, her feet dangling over the edge as she peered curiously below. Her small form was clothed in an innocent black cloak with her red and gold scarf securely hanging around her neck. Her mass of brown hair was tied gracefully into a wavy ponytail with stray wisps of hair framing the contours of her face.

Her gaze halted onto Mochu who had once used his Alice to move the Snitch into Draco's awaiting hands during a Hufflepuff game. The school had never had a problem with Alices and magic on the Quidditch pitch before, but since the silent competition between all of the houses intensified tenfold, there had been a number of cheating and foul play. Dumbledore had smartly recruited Mikan to be the Nullifier.

The responsibilities of a Nullifier was to make certain no one cheated with Alices or magic and with her experience for the last four years, Mikan's senses had also intensified to make it easy to see and _feel_ someone using their talents. Especially Mochu. That idiot would never quit trying to cheat.

Her gaze shifted to that of the Slytherin captain. Slytherin had been alternating captains since 4th year. From Draco to Natsume and this year it was Natsume. She watched as he stepped forward to shake Harry's hand and she was reminded of the feel of his hand as they cupped her face tenderly the night before. She blushed viciously and tore her gaze away from Natsume in hopes of ridding the thoughts of the owner.

She watched transfixed as the balls were released into the air and the teams set off, kicking roughly from the ground. From the corner of her eyes, she could see Hermione stretching from the tips of her toes to watch as the teams soared into the skies and Hotaru hovering above the stands, taking pictures upon her Upgraded Duck Scooter. From beside her, Casey was rambling on, commentating. "—and the Quaffle is in Hyuuga's hands as he passes the Quaffle from behind his back to Hijiri - _boy - _that kid sure goes _fast!_ Come on Gryffindor, kick Slytherin _**ass**_! -_ I forgot professor, I swear it!_"

She smiled lightly as Professor McGonagall slapped him on the back of his head and shook her own head, wondering when Casey would stop being so biased and start acting like a _real_ commentator.

From her right, she felt a tug at her skin and the faint rising of the fine hairs of her arm. With a snap of her neck, her gaze narrowed onto Mochu's large frame, his body rested precariously onto a sturdy broom as he sat frozen in the same spot, his eyebrows furrowed. His small eyes were squinted and his hands were doing a whole bunch of funny motions as he clenched and unclenched his hands.

Oh God, he was making it _way_ too obvious.

From beside her, Casey nudged her in the arm and grinned when she looked over. Lowering his voice into a whisper, Casey scoffed, "What an attention seeker."

She furrowed her brows and eyed his mischievous profile warily before asking, "Casey, what on_ Earth_ are you scoffing about now?"

The corners of his mouth lifted into a smirk and without turning to speak to her, he said from the corner of his mouth, "Haven't you seen those looks that Hyuuga's been giving you every time he scores a goal? Man, it's like he wants to make sure you're watching him or something!"

Blushing like a madwoman, Mikan turned to face away from him and after finding her voice and relaxing her breaths, she answered in a tired voice, "Casey, he's probably not even looking at me."

"Well he sure as hell isn't looking at Snape," Casey said in a slightly horrified tone.

Professor McGonagall released a stern scowl over at Casey and he immediately turned back towards the game with an excited, "Another ten points for Gryffindor! Good job Ms. Weasley! The score of the game is now 50-60 for Gryffindor! Show them what we're made of!"

Mikan smiled again, scanning the field for potential Alice or magic use, and after nullifying Mochu another three times, Mikan relaxed and watched the game. From her left hovered Harry and Draco. Both were keeping tabs on the other while scanning the school grounds for the mischievous Golden Flying Walnut and from the glint in her right eye, Mikan could tell where it was with a smile. She wouldn't, of course, tell them where it was, but she silently hoped that someone would point it out and end the game.

A faint brush of Casey's sleeve snapped Mikan out of her reverie and she peered again at the Quidditch pitch where she observed Mochu and Kitsuneme swinging their bats haphazardly around, probably hoping that one of their strikes would magically meet with a sufficient target.

_Idiots._

"Little Yuki passes the Quaffle to Little Weasley and Weasley passes it to Yome and he fakes it! And passes to Yuki! She's throwing her arm back and _goal_! 90-60 and the game is still in the Slytherin's hands! Come on Potter, find that Snitch and pound those Slytherins in the dirt where they belong!" Casey roared ignoring the fact that McGonagall was hightailing her way down the bleachers to give him another hard lecturing and a round of threats to his post.

Mikan scowled and slapped Casey's arm lightly before saying, "Stop being biased Case, that's not nice."

And lowering his voice, Casey replied, "Not you too! Come on, Mikan! It's Slytherin we're talking about…they're filthy and malicious and just … _**Slytherin**_. That should be reason enough! Where is your Gryffindor fight?"

"That's not a reason, Casey. That's being stereotypical," Mikan pointed out patiently and she watched with withering anger and slight defeat when Casey's face contorted and scrunched up into a look of confusion. She didn't need to mind read to know what he was thinking. It seemed like everywhere she went, everyone thought that Slytherins and Gryffindors were arch enemies, never to speak or to communicate to each other in any way except to mock, scorn or belittle them.

_What a generation this was, _Mikan thought wryly, _when stereotypes were placed so easily on one another._

Couldn't anyone see that Gryffindors were more than just brave and chivalrous? Couldn't anyone else see that Slytherins were more than proud blood and ambitiously cunning? There was more behind the people within these two houses than what the stereotypes seemed to magically put upon them and of course, how they put those labels upon themselves.

With another tug at the hairs of her skin, her eyes darted back to the game and she narrowed her eyes at Koko who had unconsciously activated his Alice to listen to the Slytherin's Keepers thoughts. No doubt trying to find out which way Theodore would lunge when Koko launched the Quaffle towards the hovering rings.

She lightly scowled at Koko and nullified his Alice with a snap of her fingers and she watched as his head snapped up in surprise. His head slowly turned and he snuck a sheepish grin her way before launching the Quaffle towards the rings.

"Nott catches the Quaffle! The score is still 110-70 to Slytherin… come on Yome, I know you can do better than that! Hurry your ass up Potter!" Casey growled loudly. "Zabini with the Quaffle and he ducks right on time to dodge a Bludger sent his way from Nendo as he passes the Quaffle to Hyuuga - come on Thomas, those Beater bats are in your hands for a reason -_ use it_!"

Transfixed, Mikan watched as the raven haired Slytherin defied gravity, seemingly glowing as he weaved a graceful path between players and Bludgers, bats and brooms as well as the curses that came from the Gryffindors in the stands. His crimson eyes glowed with a strange passion as his messy black locks caressed the winds and fell lightly before his eyes. The muscles on his hands worked steadily as he clutched one hand onto the handle of his broom and the other hand holding firmly to the Quaffle. A faint twitch of the corners of his lips turned upwards as he screeched to an alarmingly close stop, suspended in the air as his eyes snapped to the left.

_Right at her._

Mikan's skin was bristling with strange warmth as she stared right back at him and she realized with a flush of horror and surprise when hundreds of eyes darted towards her as well. Wondering what the hell he was looking at, the players, onlookers, teachers, and Casey snapped their eyes in the direction of his gaze and with a collective gasp from everyone in the vicinity, watched as a fluttering of spidery wings and the glint of a small walnut-sized body of gold floated suspended in the air, right beside Mikan's head.

At that moment, Mikan realized that she really hated the flying golden ball.

He had been staring at the Snitch, not her.

_Damn._

But when she realized that the Golden Ball was so close to her, she stood transfixed as well, watching in amazement as the little ball floated around her head like a fly… teasing her. A smile floated by her lips and soon she broke out into a grin as she ducked her head and watched as the Snitch followed the movement of her head. She laughed, trying not to touch it.

After all, the only ones permitted to touch the Snitch during the game were the Seekers. And for this game, it was Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy. She laughed again as she ran towards the edge of the teacher's box with the Snitch following nearby.

It seemed like Natsume was the first one to break out of his silence because he yelled, "Move your _ass_ up there Malfoy!"

Casey, having adopted a slightly affronted look upon his face upon hearing what should have been_ his voice_ saying that, replied hastily, "Potter, get your ASS out of your_ mouth_ and hurry the fuck up there and get that Snitch before Malfoy does!"

"Casey!" Mikan gasped with surprised offense, "Stop being a prick!"

"Oh shit!" Casey shouted, backing away from the edge and away from her with a mix of horror, disbelief and confusion on his face.

"What? What's wrong Casey?" she asked, wondering why Casey's olive skinned pigment was turning a deathly pale alabaster. She took a step toward him and reached a hand out. "Hey, what's wrong with yo—?"

"WATCH OUT!"

Startled, Mikan whipped her head back to the game, hearing Natsume's strangled voice rippling in the air as she gasped. Her brain clicked as both Seekers, Draco and Harry hurtled towards the teacher's box. Draco's flaxen hair and Harry's black hair whipped wildly as both of them pumped all of their strength into the last stretch of air. She bit back a scream when she realized that the Snitch was still fluttering a mere inch from her face.

The look of pure determination lay unmoving on Harry's face as well as Malfoy's as they raced neck to neck, arms already outstretched, ready to pounce for the puny walnut.

Her mind working overdrive, Mikan uttered a faint curse and with hasty spells leaving her lips faster than a blush crossing a Weasley's cheeks, she had created an extra platform hovering right beside the teacher's box.

Her heart racing in her chest, she stood on the ledge of the box and jumped precariously onto the hovering wooden platform that she had just created earning another gasp from the crowd as the Snitch followed right beside her. She stumbled onto the wooden platform and her head snapped up as she watched Draco and Harry change their course and head straight towards her.

All the while, almost everyone in the crowd thought, _Why the hell is the Snitch following her?_ and _What the hell is she doing?_

"Mikan, watch out!" Casey yelled loudly, his enhanced voice echoing with choked up concern. Her eyes darted to Casey's surprised face and by the time she turned back in the direction of the oncoming Seekers, her vision disappeared and her mind grew hazy as the faint cry of her name echoed into a silent nothingness.

* * *

_It felt nice,_ she thought wryly. _For some odd reason, it felt nice._

_I can't - he - her - though, can y-?_

_What I - believe is that Malfoy - _

_I'm going - - kill - _

_I hope Mikan's - . - do._

Who were these people? Mikan thought warily.

Her head was still spinning so quickly that her head was pounding within the small expanse of her skull. Every lobe that fibrillated in her brain caused a series of painful throbs to wrack her body and she felt a hard lump in her throat, preventing her from breathing easily. Just the thought of moving was painful.

_- do you think - wake up?_

_Look, her face is - scrunched up. It looks - she's in pain, don't - think?_

She could hear these people talking around her, but the sentences made no sense. It was all a load of crap. Her brain wasn't processing these things quickly enough and she was panicking. And when she panicked, she had the tendency to breathe erratically and when her throat was in this state, well, it was hard to breathe erratically and she was starting to panic about not being able to panic which, in turn, resulted in her hyperventilation.

_I don't even know - Hyuuga's here. He shouldn't even be allowed here. He's a Slytherin, after all._

Her breathing slowed.

Why was it that she had to understand _that_ sentence? God, this stereotyping thing had to stop! She tried to say just that but her jaws ached and her eyes wouldn't open. It felt like her cheeks were swollen to the size of grapefruits and her tongue was glued to the roof of her mouth because she couldn't even _gasp_ a word out.

This was pathetic. Since when had she gotten so pathetic?

Instead, she did the only thing she could do…she breathed.

And the voices continued but she ignored them for what seemed to be an eternity. With every minute that passed by, the voices became clearer and the sentences became comprehensible. But she didn't mind them because her fingers were starting to feel.

And it was damn painful.

_Harry, you should've been the one to stop, not Malfoy! I'm surprised that you were so obsessed with winning that you were willing to put Mikan into a coma! _

_Hey, it looks like her fingers are moving! Look, look!_

_I blame it on the Slytherins for putting her into this mess._

She would've shouted at whoever said that, but her jaws were still unmoving. Why did they have to stereotype everyone, every second of their lives? So instead, she did the second only thing that she could do.

_Hey! I think she heard you mate! Look, she's fingering you!_

_Get Madam Pomphrey in here!_

Yes, she fingered him and the thought of it brought a smile to her face.

_Now all of you get out of this room, this instant. - Yes you Granger, Potter too! - Imai what are yo- Oh! Well yes, Ms. Imai - yo-you can stay, just lower that gun of yours… Now let's open your mouth._

A burning liquid entered her throat and scalded the sensitive tissue and her eyes flew open in surprise and a scream made its way out of her mouth. A blinding light and another liquid passed in her belly, her eyes blurred, adjusting indefinitely. She had already deduced that she was in the Hospital Wing after seeing the Medi-Witch and her eyes passed over Hotaru's steely gaze before a smile touched her lips.

She brought a finger to her lips and ran a finger over the rough edge. They were dry and cracked and her throat was in the same condition.

"Where—" Licking her lips and clearing her throat painfully, she continued, "What happened?"

"Relax dear, and drink this up," Pomphrey advised gently, holding up a small vial of murky green solution, "Your throat probably feels like sand paper by now."

Eyeing the solution warily, she made a move to grab the vial when her fingers slipped and the vial fell between her loose fingers. With quick hands, Hotaru grabbed it and sighed. "Here, I got it," she said inching closer, "Now open your mouth or I'm going to dump this on your face."

Nodding, Mikan opened her cracked lips as Hotaru tipped her head back, Mikan's chin between two fingers. A flood of soothing pleasure gifted her throat as she swallowed the potion obediently and found that Hotaru had also rubbed her lips with the same mixture, making them the same healthy and supple lips before the Quidditch match.

_Speaking of Quidditch…_

"What happened during the Quidditch match and who won?" she repeated more clearly.

Sitting back primly in her seat, back ramrod straight, Hotaru rubbed her eyes warily after sending the Medi-Witch scurrying away with a glare.

_God she looked tired…_

Finally, she rested her intense purple eyes on Mikan and replied emotionlessly, "The Snitch kept hovering around you, as you probably recall and Malfoy and Potter were both racing forwards to get it. Potter, that piece of road kill, didn't stop at all!" Hotaru's voice was rising dangerously as her fists clenched tightly in her lap, her voice still surprisingly monotone. "Even Malfoy had the decency to stop in his tracks, but Potter- _idiot Potter_- was too proud and stubborn that he knocked you over and grabbed the Snitch."

_Oh ouch. No wonder it hurt so much, Harry had been going pretty fast._

"So we won, right?" she said instead.

Hotaru glared at her with a mixture between annoyed disbelief and surprised hate for reasons Mikan couldn't begin to comprehend. The voice and words that came next surprised her even more. "Is that the only thing you can think about? Winning?" Hotaru spat angrily, her clasped hands leaving indents of her nails as they dug into the palms of her hands. Her eyes were stone cold and her voice was even colder.

Surprised, Mikan shook her head furiously, "Of course not! I was just wondering!"

Hotaru stood up abruptly and turned towards the door. "Yes, Gryffindor won. But if it wasn't for Hyuuga, you would probably be a pancake on the ground by now," she said coldly, her voice cracking upon the next words, "You would've been dead."

She felt like she had been hit by a tsunami and then run over by a truck because she saw black before saying in a whisper, "What does Natsume have to do with anything?"

Amethyst eyes glanced over with an air of indifference, an ivory coloured hand still holding the doorknob, as she answered, "He saved your life, stupid."

And then she was gone, leaving a disgruntled and broken girl behind, wondering why her best friend was acting this way and why she was hurting so much inside. She knew for sure it wasn't because of the fall, because _he_ had savedher. It was something deeper.

It hurt and she didn't know why.

* * *

_My Hopeless Romantic_


	13. Grouchy Gryffindors

**Disclaimer: **All recognizable characters from Gakuen Alice belong to Tachibana Higuchi and characters from Harry Potter belong to J. K. Rowling. :) This Harry Alice is mine.

* * *

Pandemonium comes with strangers in masks.

**Chapter Twelve: Grouchy Gryffindors  
**

-;-

It had been a good three days since her Quidditch encounter and by this time, classes had started and for two _whole_ days, Mikan was dead and bored. She'd been bedridden for the entirety of that time and during classes, especially, she couldn't help but want to trick the Medi-witch and sneak out of the Hospital Wing.

Her friends came to visit with a number of wildflowers and sweets ordered from Diagon Alley and from the Fluff Puff store in Hogsmeade, which helped quite a bit.

It had been a good three days since she'd last seen Hotaru, too. Mikan couldn't quite understand why Hotaru was so angry with her. It wasn't like she'd asked for this. Why was there so much blame being put on her then? Why was Hotaru avoiding her like she'd just murdered somebody? After the velvety eyed inventor had fled the Hospital room three days ago, she had not stopped by to visit or to leave a card. Mikan was beginning to feel rejected.

It had been a good three days since she had seen Hyuuga. Not that she made it her daily goal to see him everyday… but after spending a good three months waking up to see him in the Head's common room, it was strange to wake up in the Hospital Wing with plain white walls and empty cots beside her own. It was also strange that every time the door creaked open, she would crane her neck to see if it was him. When it wasn't, she was surprised to feel her stomach sinking.

It was because she wanted to thank him, that was all.

It had been a good two days since Harry had tried to explain that he hadn't _actually_ smashed into her after catching the Snitch. Instead, he had claimed to stop just inches away from her before the force in which he had stopped had caused Mikan to lose her footing and tumble into the thin wooden wall of the plateau. The plateau had cracked and caused her to tumble to the ground. McGonagall and Snape had attested to that fact and once he had convinced everyone, he carried a relieved but smug smile on his face.

"You can wipe that dumb grin off your face anytime now," grumbled Youichi to the Boy-Who-Lived the other day, when he had decided to stop to pay a visit to his favourite tangerine.

But Harry's contagious smile only alighted on Mikan's face as well and after a few more minutes, the grey haired boy had left the room with a smirking Harry Potter standing victoriously behind.

The day before had been a long one. After sleeping, eating, and staring off into space and repeating the process, Mikan had been pulled into a line of gossip. Usually she wasn't one to be care about gossip but being stuck indoors without one mite of intellectual literature made her enthusiastic about _anything _pertaining to the outside world.

The gossip was about a heated argument between Hermione and Draco Malfoy.

For some odd reason, Draco Malfoy had begun to be _civil_ around the bushy haired Gryffindor girl and Hermione had been _extremely_ irritated about it. The main topic of conversation stationed around the way Draco had gallantly shoved a flock of Slytherin boys to let Hermione pass, making a big show in front of the entire Great Hall. And strangely enough, Natsume Hyuuga could always be seen smirking sadistically when these little exchanges occurred.

_Hmm._

It was now Tuesday and finally the day she would be discharged from the Hospital. She was still sore around her shoulders and ribs, but she felt ready to do cartwheels and back flips when she was let out. All of her pent up energy had been building up slowly and painfully for the whole four days in the Hospital, but now that she was out…

"Let's go to the lake and hang around. You know, relax," Koko suggested as Mikan trudged slowly along the empty halls alongside Hermione. It was a slow process…getting used to the feeling of using her feet.

"Anyone would be insane to go outdoors when it's positively freezing!" Hermione said petulantly, bundling her scarf around her neck more securely. She coughed raggedly into her gloved hand and shivered. "It's filthy outside. The ground is covered in slush."

"It's snowing…?" Mikan's face lit up with glee. She all but stumbled onto her face in her haste to get outside. "You guys didn't tell me it was snowing!"

"For good reason," Hermione had told her, running a gloved hand across the tip of her nose and sniffling, "You'd act like a child on Christmas day and end up hurting yourself some more."

Mikan smiled with delight, eyeing her friend with a look of sympathy as Hermione coughed roughly and stretched her arms. "I'm _so_ tired. I know the Headmaster gave us special permission to help you get re-accustomed and whatnot, but do you think you can carry on without me?" Hermione had asked with a voice filled with fatigue. "All I want to do is crawl into bed and sleep forever."

Koko wrinkled his nose. "Gross. I swear I just saw something flying out of your nose, Hermy," Koko muttered in disgust, backing silently behind Mikan. Hermione rolled her eyes and tried to offer a small smile.

"Don't worry about me," Mikan had reassured, ignoring the large, invisible hole in her chest. "Koko and I are going to have a blast!"

* * *

"Okay! I _surrender_! To think that I wanted to go _easy_ on you because you were in the hospital…" Koko complained, mumbling under his breath, rubbing the seat of his pants to get some life into them. "_Mikan!_" Koko whined, holding his hands out in front of him as a sign to help him to his feet. "You should've had some sympathy for me. I can't even read your mind and you can do _a whole_ bunch of things _to me_!"

He scowled pitifully, his hands still ushering her to help him and Mikan suppressed the small giggle on her lips before she reached out for his hands.

A sly grin split his face as he grabbed her hands tightly and pulled her down, while managing to pull himself up. She landed heavily on her side and crumbled softly to the ground with a moan of pain. "_Ow!_"

The petite brunette girl didn't bother addressing him as she cringed and moaned, not bothering to try to get up and from the looks of it, she looked to be in great pain.

Koko was instantly at her side. "Are you all right? I'm so sorry!" Her body still slumped onto the ground, Mikan hid the tiny smirk flitting past her lips as she heard the light _crunch, crunch_ of Koko's shoes, digging into the crackly snow. The rustle of his pants met her ears as he bent over to survey her small body anxiously.

With a smile hidden from the concerned Mind-Reader, Mikan groaned again and slumped further into the ground and she felt a tentative finger probe her shoulder before saying, "Mikan, this isn't funny, okay? Fine, _fine_ you win, is that what you wanted me to say?" he whined again, giving her a sharp shove in the shoulder when he heard the inevitable giggle come from her lips.

She was cackling with laughter as Koko begrudgingly seized her proffered hand and helped her up, muttering something about _crazy females and their psychotic antics_ before scowling at her still giggling figure.

"You know, it's not _that_ funny," he grumbled again, digging his hands into his pockets and slowly trudging back to the school with Mikan at his heels. She sensed his sullen aura and quickly bounded to his side, seizing his arm and winding her own through the loop his arms made.

"Hey, Koko," she started, craning her neck to look up at his frown, "What's on your mind? I know for a fact that it wasn't _all_ about me tricking you," she deadpanned, staring at him with probing eyes, a hint of amusement still dancing around her lips.

He mumbled something about _scary green lady_ and looked away with a flush on his cheeks, his lips pressed into a thin line. "What was that? I didn't quite hear you that time," she asked again.

"Nothing," he murmured instead.

She pouted and poked him hard in the cheek. "Hey, you know I never accept that kind of answer. Now tell me what's on your mind, I'm great with these things and besides," she said with a knowing smile, patting his shoulder, "I think it's a girl problem and if you hadn't noticed," she smiled lifting her hands in the air, "I_ am_ a girl."

He looked shocked and put a hand to his cheek with mock surprise. "Really, Mikan? I _really_ didn't know that you were a girl, even after spending seven years being your friend!"

She smacked his upper arm playfully and he grinned down at her before looking thoughtfully toward the sky. "It's Shouda," he muttered slowly, his eyes still trained at the rolling clouds, "I think that crazy girl is getting to me."

"Crazy girl is right," Mikan grumbled softly, catching the hint of affection in his voice. "So you…what? Have feelings for her?"

Her tone was playful and teasing.

He rolled his eyes and snorted, "No way."

His tone sounded fake even to_ his_ ears and he looked away from her curious scrutiny. He eyed her from the corner of his eyes and watched her as she hummed softly under her breath, the sound was supposed to be light but when it met his ears, he couldn't help but think she was mocking him as a way to prompt him to tell her.

"Come on," he said instead, trudging along the path toward the school where all of the other students were still in class. She nodded her head and tugged on his arm as they walked in a comfortable silence, her humming beginning to turn into a sharp squeaking as she looked at him expectantly and the look in her eyes told him to tell her what was on his mind or she was going to make him deaf in the form of her sharp hums.

Koko gritted his teeth and turned his head away, trying hard not to slap both hands over his ears or over her mouth to stop the incessant tirade of annoying sounds coming from her closed lips. The humming grew louder and closer to his ears and he shot her a glare before putting his hands up in defeat and growling, "All right, fine! You crazy woman!"

Mikan clapped her hands and smiled triumphantly, releasing her loose grip on his arms so that her arms fell by her sides. She looked at him, listening intently. He folded his legs onto the ground, crisscross apple-saucing his legs and he closed his eyes, patting the spot beside him in the snow. She followed suit, taking the proffered spot beside him on the ground.

He sat there and she watched him quietly, waiting for him to start talking about his problems but he didn't move, shift or say a thing. Nothing. So she poked him, hard in the ribs, and he winced before glaring at her with a mixture of annoyance and amusement. "What?"

She looked shell shocked. "What? Did you just say _what?_ I thought you were going to tell me about Shouda!" she bellowed none too quietly.

"Who said I'd do such a thing?" he asked with a frown.

It was her turn to growl as she clamped her lips shut and resumed her humming and it was only a few seconds later before he caved_ again. _"Fine, _fine,_" he growled warily. "It's Shouda. I don't know what's wrong with her but she's driving me _crazy_!"

"Koko," Mikan replied patiently, "I think you've already established that."

He shot her a look of contempt before relaxing his facial muscles and grinning quietly. "A few days ago, I was out by the lake with Anna when Permy came out of the Forbidden Forest looking like someone had just died." He paused and looked thoughtfully in the direction of the forest. "She was frowning." He smiled at her apologetically before he murmured, "I read her mind. Obviously."

"Koko!"

"What?" He laughed, looking unashamed. "I'm not going to tell you if you keep interrupting me!"

She put her hands up and pulled her knees to her chest, listening quietly.

He nodded his head and looked off into the distance, before resuming.

"_I hate this school and the jerks in it," _he quoted, his eyes unblinking as if he could see exactly what he'd heard. _"I hate not having reliable friends and I hate not being able to tell anybody about this stupid life I have. There's nobody in Slytherin that will actually listen except for Natsume and he's been too busy with all the problems in _his_ life. God, to think that I actually had hopes in this school."_

Koko scoffed lightly before saying, _"I'll be glad to finally be rid of this place. Start over in America where no one can label me."_

He turned to face Mikan with a sad smile on his face. "I know it might be hard to believe, but I don't think she's the arrogant Slytherin that we've always thought she was. Maybe, just _maybe_, she's more than what she seems to be."

Mikan nodded thoughtfully. "Funny thing, I've been thinking about this a lot…about the Houses in Hogwarts and how we've all grown so used to being divided and separate that we've begun this terrible rivalry that has become so _unhealthy_. I mean, lots of Slytherins aren't as evil as we think they are. They deserve a chance. Ravenclaws aren't stuck up snobs who think everybody else is on a lower intellectual level and Hufflepuffs _definitely _aren't just the nice and boring. We're all different…all special…lots of us forget that."

Koko grinned. "Nice speech, Head Girl. I agree." He sat back and rested on his elbows…eyes distant. "You know when you read minds, how you can actually _feel_ what the person is thinking just by listening to the way they say things," he asked. Without waiting for an answer, he told her, "I _know_ how she felt and it was pretty crappy."

He grinned mischievously, cracking his knuckles as if he was ready for a fight, "I'm up for the challenge!"

Mikan looked at him quizzically. "What challenge?"

He rolled his eyes and bumped his shoulder into hers. "_She_ doesn't think that anyone in this school will listen to her, then I'll give her a chance to tell _me_. I've always wanted to be a knight in shining armour for somebody and it looks like I've found the perfect candidate to try it on!" By the time he finished his lovely speech, he was grinning widely. Jumping to his feet, he reached down and took her arms, pulling her up next to him. "What do you think?" he asked excitedly.

Trying to suppress the smile on her face, Mikan answered with a squeeze of her hands, "I think that's a great idea. But don't give up, Slytherins can be pretty ignorant. You'll have to pester her for a while, don't you think?"

He grinned again, starting the short trek back to the school. "That's what makes the whole thing all the more challenging!" he cried, thumping a closed fist onto his chest, trying to show his uber masculinity.

Mikan laughed. "Well, _I'm_ glad that I'm not the only one that wants to give the Slytherins another chance."

He didn't appear to give any indication that he had heard her so she shoved him in the shoulder and asked, "How's Hotaru? Do you know why she's been mad at me lately?"

He turned around to give her a queer look before shrugging his shoulders and looking ahead. "I don't know but you can ask her yourself…there she is now. Hey _Imai_!"

"Koko, what are you _doing_?" she cried, jabbing him in the stomach with the point of her elbow.

"I thought you wanted to talk to her?" he cried in exasperation, throwing his arms up in defeat. "Girls don't know what they _want_!"

"Oh shut up, you big goof," Mikan shoved him lightly in the shoulder, smiling at Hotaru as they approached her silently.

"Hey Imai!" Koko bellowed loudly, taking a seat beside her. She grumbled her acknowledgment and turned her head away from Mikan. It was with this action that Mikan frowned.

"Hey Hotaru. What's up?" she asked, taking a seat in front of her best friend.

Hotaru frowned. "Nothing," her soft voice was laden with no emotion.

Koko frowned too, eyeing the two ladies with their different facial expressions. Getting to his feet, Koko looked from one female then to the other and said, "I guess this is a bad time," he muttered. "See you guys later!"

Silence ensued and Mikan sighed with exasperation. "Look," she started, "I really don't know why you've been mad at me lately. Did I do something wrong?"

Hotaru shot her a look of contempt before getting to her feet. "If you can't figure it out yourself, then I won't tell you."

Open mouthed with surprise, Mikan frowned and yelped, "What! Don't you think I would've figured it out if I truly knew what I did?"

Hotaru shot her another look of annoyance before turning fully away from her. Calling back over her shoulder, Hotaru called monotonously, "I'm going to make a round of the school and when I come back and you _still_ haven't figured it out yet, then I'll leave."

She started away as Mikan looked after her, a protest dying in her throat as she shook her head and thought, long and hard. What had she _done _to make Hotaru act so sensitively? For the life of her, she couldn't come to a conclusion.

So when Hotaru rounded the corner and stood in front of Mikan with a flat look on her face, uttering a simple, "Well?" Mikan had surged to her feet, practically tumbling over her stoic friend before bellowing, "I don't know what I did wrong and no matter how much time you give me to think it over, I won't be able to sum up the answer!"

Hotaru's jaw slackened and she lifted an eyebrow, a faint tinkle of emotion jarring her pupils, "Really now? Well let me give you a little hint then."

Folding her arms, tight and protective across her chest, Hotaru crossed the snow covered lawn and perched elegantly onto the stone steps, not after clearing the stone from the wet snow. She looked back at Mikan and gazed intently in her eyes before saying, "It has something to do with your actions during the Quidditch match."

The word 'Quidditch' was laden with a sharp edge and Mikan winced visibly, thinking back to the day of her accident. She had nullified Alices and chastised Casey about being biased. She put a finger to her chin in thought, reminiscing again. She had gazed too long at Natsume while he had the Quaffle.

She shook her head. That wasn't the reason Hotaru was angry.

She tried harder. She had been running from side to side with the Snitch. _No, not that one. How about after that…_ The two Seekers coming right at her. _Could it be that Hotaru was mad that I had taken the post of Nullifier in the first place? She had never had a problem with it before…_

"Oh!" she jumped to her feet with a finger in the air.

Hotaru raised an eyebrow. "So you've got it then?"

"Well, I'm not too sure," Mikan replied, shuffling her shoe-clad foot over the snow. Looking up at her friend with desperation in her eyes, Mikan asked quietly, "Was it because I got hurt during the game, Hotaru? Or was it because I took the Nullifying job? You know I'm the only one that can do it so easily."

Hotaru shook her head, a small smile touching her lips. "A bit of both, you moron."

Mikan was puzzled. "A bit of both? What do you mean?"

"You're so _stupid_," Hotaru drawled slowly. "If you hadn't taken the job, you wouldn't have gotten hurt. You wouldn't have gotten hurt if you hadn't been such an idiot and jumped into action before even _thinking_. Have you ever heard of the saying, _"Look before you leap?" _Yeah, you were leaping _all_ over the place."

She closed her eyes momentarily then watched as Mikan's face fell with guilt. Hotaru didn't move from her seat, instead she continued, "You should learn to think before acting rashly. It'll cost you your life one day, Mikan," she said quietly. "And maybe one day, Hyuuga and I won't be there to save you. You have all of these Alices for a reason. You could have easily prevented that fall. You have to stop being so afraid of showing people who you really are. Do you really want people to like you for someone who you're not? That's misleading and pretty fucking sad if you ask me."

The shuffling of feet and the rustling of her clothes were faintly working in the background as she stopped abruptly in front of Hotaru and placed two hands on each of Hotaru's slender shoulders. Bending low, she smiled sadly at Hotaru and quickly pulled her into a tight hug, her arms winding their way around her waist, her head resting firmly on Hotaru's shoulder.

Hotaru sighed, slightly displeased. "You better not be spreading your mucus on my clothes, dummy."

Mikan chuckled into Hotaru's shoulder, sniffling a bit and leaning back, brushing the back of her hand across her eyes and her pink nose. "I can't tell them. Not yet. It's too late."

Hotaru turned her head away, crossing her arms over her chest. "It's never too late. I still like you, don't I?"

A smile lit up on Mikan's face. "But you're Hotaru. We've been together forever."

* * *

Mikan had been wondering for a while, well after the stroll with Koko and the reunion with Hotaru, why she still felt a huge gap in her torso. She would've thought that sharing the afternoon with a pair of her closest friends and mending a fragile friendship would've made her feel better, but instead, the hole in her stomach was beginning to devour her.

Maybe now that many of her qualms and problems were solved, the root of her increasing stomach wound was becoming even deeper and harder to mask. Now, a few hours after dinner, Mikan found herself walking down the lonely halls of the school with a few stragglers in the corridors. Mikan didn't have the heart to tell them to get to bed soon.

It would soon be after hours and she wasn't sure who had patrol today. If it was Hermione, Mikan would make sure that she stayed in bed and took her rounds. It was the least she could do for someone so sick.

"Ms. Sakura!"

Whipping her head around at the sharp voice, Mikan turned around to see McGonagall's stern face coming into view, walking briskly towards her. "Hello Professor?" Mikan asked politely, looking up at the stern teacher.

"As you may know, Ms. Granger has the flu and I think it's best if she misses patrols this evening," McGonagall told her with Mikan nodding her approval.

"I was just thinking the same thing," Mikan said honestly. "I'd be glad to take her patrol tonight. Besides, she did mine yesterday," Mikan said with a smile, clasping her hands together neatly.

The old professor nodded apparently pleased and cleared her throat. "Thank you for volunteering, Ms. Sakura. I've also gotten word that Mr. Malfoy cannot make it because of some prior commitments to his school work. Young Mr. Hyuuga has agreed to take over both shifts. You'll be fine with only the two of you, won't you?" McGonagall probed, her lips pursed into a thin line. "It may take longer than a usual patrol shift but you'll get 25 points for each of your Houses in return."

Stunned into silence, her mind screaming an audible _NO! I can't be alone with him for two hours!_ and her heart bellowing a deafening _Hooray for the sick and the dumb!_, her lips were unmoving and silent.

McGonagall raised an eyebrow. "Ms. Sakura, it is rude to keep your mouth open like that."

"I-I'm sorry, Professor," Mikan said quickly. "Of course. That will be fine."

"Right," McGonagall replied, raising a suspicious eyebrow at her. "Till tomorrow then."

Mikan watched silently as McGonagall rounded the corner of the hallway before letting out a sigh of disbelief.

_Oh, hell._

* * *

A series of shuffling feet and the light knock at her door made Mikan's head snap upwards to eye it warily. "One second!" she hissed quietly, afraid to wake up Hermione and upsetting Malfoy who was studying out in the common room.

She struggled briefly to get her vest and tie on over her white button-up blouse before she pinned her Head Girl badge on top. Grabbing a light sweater and pulling on her polished, black Mary Jane's, Mikan didn't bother looking herself in the mirror before tugging the door open and stepping out, shutting the door tightly behind her.

"Hyuuga," she called lightly to the raven haired boy standing directly outside of her door.

He nodded curtly at her before stepping ahead and walking out of the portrait hole into the corridors. She looked after him for a second before eyeing Malfoy's figure warily as he hunched over the table looking over some notes, twirling his quill around in his fingers idly as his eyes darted from line to line.

She sucked in a deep breath before walking toward the blonde boy and calling his attention. "Hey Malfoy?"

"Draco."

Startled, she looked back down at him but the latter kept his gaze on his papers and nodded once before jotting down a note or two. "Excuse me?" she asked briefly.

He sighed, finally meeting her gaze with a pair of stormy grey eyes, running a tired hand through his silky blonde hairs. "It's Draco. Whenever you both say Malfoy, I expect to see my father behind me in the midst of uttering a killing spell," he deadpanned before dropping his gaze once again to his homework.

She lifted her eyebrows at his statements and shook her head. "Okay… Draco," Mikan started, getting a feel for the new name. "Could you please keep an eye on Hermione for me? If she starts acting up, I'm counting on you to keep her head in place."

He scoffed lightly. "I could but the question is, _will_I?"

She sighed in annoyance, placing both hands on her hips, glaring at him mercilessly. "Draco Malfoy, if you don't promise me that you WILL take care of Hermione for me while I'm gone, I will make sure that you regr—"

He held up a hand to silence her as his eyes darted from one page to the next, his pages scattered around him. "Whatever Sakura, I have a lot of work to do, so if Granger comes walking into this room like a drunk or starts calling for fluffy toilet rolls, I'll see to it that she stays in the safe confines of our common room and does not harm herself, alright?"

All throughout his speech, Draco had not lifted his head from his notes and had been jotting down line after line, his eyebrows knitted with concentration. Mikan's face split into a grateful smile. "Thanks Draco. And it's Mikan to you!"

And before he could utter his reply, she was out the door with a smile on her face.

* * *

Slipping through the small gap of the door, Mikan closed it softly watching as the cats on the portrait resumed their poker game. Looking from side to side, Mikan trained her eyes along the hallway, looking for Natsume and wondering where he'd gone.

He had been just beside her minutes before, how could he have left without telling her of his instructions? They had patrol together, after all.

She scowled, beside herself with remorse. Was he regretting the kiss that he had shared with her that day in the Astronomy Tower just a few days ago? That must be it, she thought bitterly. Why else would he be scampering off wherever his feet led him… avoiding her like the plague?

He hadn't visited her since the day in the Tower or more like the day he caught her and saved her life during the Quidditch match. He was unbelievable.

Smoothing out her skirt and tugging the sleeves of her sweater on, she started down the hall, all the while pondering about Natsume. There was no doubt in her mind that he regretted kissing her. They were arch enemies since the very day that they had met at ten at Alice Academy. Plus, they were in rivaling houses.

Kissing her meant he had betrayed his house and the same thing was rewarded to her, as well. The last thing he wanted to do was go against every ounce of hate and offense that they had built up that first day they'd met. That hadn't stopped him from kissing her as his Gryffindor Princess though.

Her stomach sunk deep into the ground as she hugged herself desperately, trying to keep the hole in her torso at bay. And then a sharp realization struck her… he hadn't been in his right mind when he'd kissed her. He probably had no control over his actions at all! Oh God. He was probably blinded with so much pain from his bloody knuckles that he had been hallucinating enough to think that she was someone else. She put a hand to her mouth, attempting to keep the bile that was fast approaching her lips.

_Oh God._

Pacing back and forth, she put a hand to her cheek and ran over her thoughts.

He probably thought she'd taken advantage of him in his state of vulnerability.

Just as she was about to turn and do some more pacing, an arm grabbed hold of her shoulders and fast as lightening, two hands cupped the light skin of her chin, jerking her face upwards with a deft flick of his wrist. Struggling for breath and a scream dying in her throat, Mikan watched, stunned, and wonder at the pair of crimson eyes boring into her own brown ones.

"What took you so long?" he breathed, his face so close that she could feel his warm breaths hitting her cheeks.

Their bodies dangerously close, their torsos just about touching, Mikan's breath stuck in her throat as she watched awestruck at the amazing display of emotions in his eyes. None that she could decipher but she was drawn to the display like a child to candy.

"Why were you pacing?" he asked, his voice filled with a deep growl and deeper masculinity.

Broken from her thoughts, her brain beginning to function slowly, she pushed at his chest lightly, barely making him budge as he kept a firm hold of her upper arms. He didn't move. Nor did he speak. They both just stood there like they had been turned into statues from Medusa's stare. Her head bent and her face masked, her voice just above a whisper, she said, "Are you drunk or are you just out of your mind?"

He looked at her as if she had three heads. "Neither, why?"

His blunt reply was the last thing she had expected.

Her eyes wide with confusion, she shook her head, her face still tucked away from his penetrating stare. "Why? Why not! We've been enemies for almost a decade, we're rivals, our houses are enemies, we've never had a decent conversation with one another, you don't know a _thing_ about me, you don't even know what you're doing and you don't even like me!" she wailed loudly at the brink of hysteria.

He remained quiet. So quiet that she had to look up to see if he was still there, which was silly because her hands were still on his chest, the feel of his heartbeat beating quickly underneath the pads of her fingers.

Once she had made eye contact, she knew she'd made a mistake. His eyes were smothering her again, filled with those unknown emotions that she had never seen before and before she could make any other observation, he had leaned his face down, his lips brushing her ear softly, whether intentionally or unintentionally, she didn't know.

All she could do was stand there and shiver.

"First," he blew softly into the shell of her ear, "We became enemies because neither of us was willing to give the other a chance after the first week of school." He kissed her ear softly, moving down to her neck.

"Second," he breathed in her scent, "We're rivals because there's no one other than you that has ever posed a challenge to me." He kissed the side of her neck and at the edge of her jaw, his tongue flitting across the surface softly.

Mikan clenched her jaw and gritted her teeth to concentrate on the words coming from his lips but what he was doing was truly distracting her. He was either unaware of the fireworks sprouting in her chest or he was being a sadistic bastard, loving the show of uncertainty currently displayed on her face. She would bet anything that it was on the latter.

"Third… it doesn't matter what Houses we're in, nor does it matter what skin or hair colour we have. That was never really a reason, was it?" Without waiting for an answer, he let his lips linger over her skin, not quite touching but no more than a millimetre away. "Fourth, we _have_ had a decent conversation. A few times, actually."

This startled her but before she could voice out her thoughts, he had interrupted her. "Fifth and sixth, I know quite a bit about you from those conversations that you can't seem to remember and—" he left a lingering kiss against her cheek, "—I do know what I'm doing."

Her breath hitched at the serious look on his face. "And last, I do like you."

His voice was but a whisper before he had captured her lips. Mikan didn't know whether he was trying to prove all of the things that he had just said. She didn't know if he was being honest or not to her, but with the gentle way that his lips managed to stroke hers with a fierce tenderness, it was all she could do not to fall to the floor into a puddle at his feet.

His lips were soft and warm, almost like a dream against her own and his hands had stopped its movements and rested lazily on the curve of her waist and a while after, she leaned closer to him in hopes of making the kiss last forever.

Her heart trembled and tripped with the feel of their close proximity and the feel of his fluttering eyelashes on her cheekbones. She didn't realize that she hadn't been responding until then and with a fiery intensity, she tentatively stroked her lips with his, keeping the kiss as tender as ever.

A sigh broke from the two of them after their kiss had deepened. "How is it that I don't remember a decent conversation with you," she asked after breaking the kiss and struggling to regain her breath and heartbeat as she rested her head at the crook of his neck.

The deep chuckle that reverberated through his body caused her to shiver. "Must you hide from the truth?" he asked quietly into her ear.

She stiffened with confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I know who you are," she sighed from the warmth of his body as he pulled her closer like he never wanted to let her go. "My Gryffindor Princess."

* * *

_My Hopeless Romantic_


	14. Sneaky Surprises

**Disclaimer: **All recognizable characters from Gakuen Alice belong to Tachibana Higuchi and characters from Harry Potter belong to J. K. Rowling. :) This Harry Alice is mine. Enjoy!

* * *

Pandemonium comes with strangers in masks.

**Chapter Thirteen: Sneaky Surprises  
**

-;-

The dim lighting of the corridor just outside their common room was dark, safe for the few torches that lined the walls. The light barely managed to illuminate the two figures. The pesky shadows that danced along the corridors fluttered from one dark corner to the next but always stopping shy from the two figures that stood in the middle of it all.

One figure, Mikan Sakura, was horrified beyond belief at the three words hanging aimlessly between them.

_My Gryffindor Princess._

"How did you know…?" she whispered softly, slowly tearing herself away from his grasp to stand a respectable distance away.

She watched silently as his eyes wandered around her face, taking the time to inspect the girl that had haunted his every thought and his every dream since the night of that memorable Masquerade Ball. Flying from her right ear to the edges of her mouth, the look in his eyes was of wonder and awe.

Mikan couldn't understand why he looked so… _amazed._ What was so special about her that made that pleasant sparkle touch his eyes? There was nothing special about her. Nothing at all. Sure, she could run a few miles in under sixty seconds and she could hold down a ton of information in the small expanse of her brain but other than her vast Alice possession and the fact that she was _smart_, there was nothing else appealing about her.

She was short, shorter than most in their year and the year under them, which had never pleased her. She was plain, almost painfully ordinary, with her wavy brown tresses that neither shimmered when touched with light nor cooperated with her during rough mornings. Her body wasn't exactly curvaceous like some of the other girls, especially when she wore her school uniform a size bigger than it was supposed to be. Her legs were nothing special. So what was it exactly that caused Natsume's eyes to light up the way they did?

"Hyuuga, I'm asking you a question," she said a little louder. "Now what makes you think I'm…" she cleared her throat. "Whatever you think I am."

He shrugged, uncommitted and uncaring. "Little hints that you passed me here and there. The question is, how did _you_ find out I was your Slytherin?" he wondered out loud, something that had been bothering him for quite some time.

She watched as he leaned casually against the cool stone wall with his back and left foot propped up against its surface leisurely. He folded his arms across his chest and with the flicker of lights, Mikan was able to make out the curve of his lips and the arch of his infuriating eyebrow.

Swallowing hard, Mikan bit the inside of her cheek before narrowing her eyes. "I'm not an idiot. I'm one of the smartest in our year, after all."

"Oh, so you're saying I'm dumb?" he challenged thoughtfully, his tone mocking.

She smirked to herself, no longer caring for the erratic thumping of her heartbeats that continued to batter her ribs. She raised an eyebrow and countered, "Do you really want me to answer that question, _Hyuuga_? Because if I do recall correctly… I managed to realize who you were early October. It's December now before _you _realized." Putting a finger to her lip, mocking a thoughtful pose, Mikan pretended to be in deep concentration until she mockingly responded, "It took you an added month and a half to realize who _I_ was. I'd say that I _am_ smarter than you."

He narrowed his gaze at the sly look on her face before his forehead cleared. "You're finally admitting that you're the mysterious Gryffindor. Not that I needed confirmation, since I already knew. Truth is, I was just teasing you. I knew the whole time," he boasted casually, the lie coming from his lips like a simple greeting. His lips formed a boyish grin that made his eyes light up.

"Oh?" she asked, the syllable mocking as she paced slowly in front of him. "Lying doesn't suit you…I guess being a Slytherin, that's hardly something new to you."

"What are you talking about now?" he muttered irritably.

She smirked slyly at him, her pacing coming to a stop right in front of him as she crossed her arms before her chest. "I have proof that you're lying. I happen to know for sure that you didn't have a clue that I was your Gryffindor before November!"

"Oh yeah? And what, pray tell, is this formidable evidence that you speak of?" he asked sarcastically, returning to his feet, no longer needing the walls for support.

She laughed softly with amusement dancing in her eyes before leaning closer towards his right ear. With her breath tickling the shell of his ear, she breathed, "I read your mind. Well Koko did," she said vaguely. Her eyes glinted when she looked back at him, backing away with a snicker. "Oh how victory is sweet!"

He scoffed. "I thought you were supposed to use your powers for good, not for prying into someone's business," he snapped, put out that he had been caught lying.

She laughed heartily until he stepped away from the walls completely and started down the corridor towards the classrooms and the hallways that led to the rest of the castle. "Come on, we have patrol," he tossed over his shoulder.

She frowned, falling in step behind him. "So," she started casually, her eyes staring directly ahead. "You're _okay_ with me?"

"What do you mean?" His voice belied his irritation.

"Don't be difficult," she said with a frown and a blush inching up her cheeks. "You know it's a huge problem. You're in Slytherin…but you're okay with being your…you know? You're okay with that?"

He smirked viciously, stuffing a hand into his pocket when he turned back to look at her. "I didn't get that. You're my what?"

She glared at him, an admirable flush making its way to her cheeks. "You know what I mean, asshole," she growled softly. He merely raised an eyebrow. With a quick inhale, she mumbled something quickly under her breath and looked at him expectantly. "Well?"

He frowned. "I didn't hear that. Care to repeat yourself?"

"_Natsume Hyuuga_," she fumed, shoving him in the shoulder, "If you don't stop being a prat, I'm going to slap you six days till Sunday!" She stomped her foot with irritation, making him stop in his tracks before putting both hands on her hips. "You know," she paused, wringing her hands "I'm your Gryffindor…girl."

Natsume snickered, acting surprised. "Oh, that." He shrugged and continued walking. "Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

She dropped her gaze to the floor, her fists clenched and unclenched by her side. "I don't know," she whispered quietly, "—if this will work."

This made him stop in his tracks and Mikan watched as he turned back to clench his fists at his sides. "Don't bail on me again," he whispered quietly. "I don't care what House you're in. I've never cared. So if you're willing to try, I'm willing to try. Nothing other than that should matter."

She turned her face away, unsmiling. "There's a lot riding against us. I mean, I know our Houses won't take this _thing_ between us lightly. You know that too. And I _care_ about what my friends think. I don't want everyone whispering about us! I like my personal life to be just that. _Personal,_ if you don't mind."

"It will be personal," he promised. "I just…I can't stand the idea of knowing who you are and not being allowed to be with you. You may piss the hell out of me, but I…there's a reason I didn't just give up on you. You're not like the other girls."

"Your friends are all going to think you're impure for hanging around with me," she said petulantly.

He took her by her upper arms and turned them around, pressing her into the cool, stone walls, caging her with his arms as he leaned his lips near her ear. "What are you planning on doing with me that is so _impure_?" he asked with a laugh in his throat.

She rolled her eyes painfully. "Stop it with the crude innuendos, Pervert. I'm trying to be serious here."

"Trying and succeeding, Stupid," he said, letting go of her arms and taking her by the hand. He looked at her closely, eyes warm and red. His voice was low and playful. "It's our last year here. Do you really care about what everybody thinks _now_? Take a chance. Have _fun._"

She looked at him questionably. "Why are you so close to me?"

"Maybe because I want to kiss you?"

She smiled wickedly. "Why did you say that like it was a question?"

He scowled softly. "Because I'm not sure you'll let me."

She cackled with laughter, placing her small hands onto his chest with a smile. "Like you care whether I let you or not."

He quirked an eyebrow at her and smirked. "Of course I care," he murmured softly. Then as an afterthought he continued, "…fine, I don't."

And without another word, he leaned down, his lips skimming her bottom lip softly before capturing them whole. The flickering of the shadows that flew from the torch lights danced just out of their reach. And he found that patrolling the castle was the last thing on their minds as Natsume showed her just how much he didn't care.

* * *

Draco Malfoy was studying.

_Studying._

Something he never did. Never in his life would he have ever thought that he'd be spending so much of his time doing homework in a day. Already an hour had gone by and the two patrolling still hadn't returned.

_How odd_, he thought.

Placing the end of the quill on his chin, he wondered how Natsume was doing. Being one of his closest friends, Draco had wheedled out the fact from Natsume that Mikan Sakura was, indeed, the girl that he had gone gaga over. To say that he was surprised would've been a lie. He had always had an inkling there was something there.

He chuckled lightly, remembering the look of horror on Mikan's face the day he had caught her staring at his best friend. Boy, that girl was smitten.

And though it might've been hard to believe, Malfoy had also taken a liking to Sakura. She had charisma and brains. The looks were there too, just a little shadowed by her humungous brain, but they were definitely there. Too bad she was painfully unaware that the reason the male population was looking at her wasn't because she was so gifted in school.

How dense could a smart person be? Even he couldn't find that answer.

He sighed softly, ignoring the piles of scattered parchment paper before him. Knowing Natsume was serious about one girl made him want to be serious too. Was he going to spend the rest of his glorious school days making out with random girls? Would he ever find a girl for himself to settle down with?

Once that thought had crossed his mind, his eyes were thrown wide open and he had jumped out of his seat, breaking his quill in half.

"What the hell am I thinking?" he whispered disbelieving. "Was I just thinking about… settling for one girl?"

He shuddered._ What a horrid thought!_

Maybe there was something wrong with him! He would make it a point to run down to the Hospital Wing, bright and early in the morning, to get a check-up.

_Draco Malfoy settled for no one._

No woman was good enough to settle down with. There were requirements that had to be met and his requirements were _very_ high. He was pacing now, running a hand through his soft, flaxen hair in concentration.

She had to be pretty and witty…there was definitely the must-have of being able to keep up with his sly remarks. Not many could do that. She had to be a good kisser, shorter than he was and of course, she had to be a girl. Maybe being athletic could be a bonus and—

A loud thump could be heard from behind Granger's door, followed by a moan of pain. Then there was the shuffling of fabric.

Annoyed that his list had been interrupted, he frowned handsomely, walking slowly towards the door. When he was directly outside of it, he listened carefully for any sounds of the occupant but no sounds emerged. He shrugged and walked back to the table, abandoning his list to focus solely on his homework. A few more hours had gone by and just as he was about to pack up, there was a loud crash of porcelain from behind Granger's door and he bolted to his feet, knocking loudly.

"Granger, are you killing yourself for me? Because that would be a _dream_ come true!" he called casually, listening intently for a response on the other side of the door.

There was no answer.

He knocked a few more times and sighed. "The only reason I'm not barging into your room right now is because I'm a gentleman," he called. "But if you don't answer me in five seconds, I will invade your personal space!"

_One, two, three, four and five._

"I'm coming in!" he yelled loudly, waiting for another five seconds before turning the handle and stepping inside her room.

_Clean_.

That was the first thing that came to mind.

Her desk was immaculately organized, the books aligned in alphabetical order. The lamp by her bed was glowing brightly on her bedside table. Nothing looked out of the ordinary… except the broken vase on the ground littering the floor with water, cracked porcelain pieces and lilies. The other thing out of place was the brunette girl sprawled on the ground, her legs tangled with the bed sheets and her cheek, cut and bloody.

Rolling his eyes, he was about to leave her on the ground when Mikan's nagging voice echoed in his ears.

_Could you please keep an eye on Hermione for me? If she starts acting up, I'm counting on you to keep her head in place._

"Head in place, my foot," he snarled in annoyance.

He made his way towards the bed without difficultly, cleaning up the broken glass and water with his wand and levitated the flowers into their shared bathroom with ease. As for the girl on the floor, he wanted nothing to do with her.

He didn't have much of a problem with her. There was just something about her that annoyed him every time she was in the room. Looking at her now made him nervous. It was just the fact that he had never cared or treated a girl for wounds before that made him nervous. Tucking his wand into his pocket, he eyed Hermione with a critical eye before bending to his knees, one arm lifting her by the knees, the other holding her under her back.

Without a grunt of effort, he lifted her easily, marvelling at the fact that she was so light. Had she been eating? How could a person his age be so _light, _she was practically _weightless_! He placed her onto the bed, her head lolling to one side as she remained oblivious to his efforts.

Torn between leaving her there on the bed and waiting in her room for her to wake up, he stood uncertain by her bedside, looking her in the face as her blood dripped from the scratch near her eyes to the bed sheets, staining the golden comforter red.

The growing stain of blood made him move towards the washroom. He looked in his room for a towel but found only a handkerchief, his favourite, silky green handkerchief too. He sighed resignedly and headed back to Granger's room, handkerchief in hand. Approaching her bed, he watched as she stirred, smearing the blood on her comforter as she hissed and snuggled against the golden fabric.

Rolling his eyes, he knelt before her, taking her chin between two fingers and forcing her face away from the comforter in hopes of keeping the blood from seeping further into it. "Granger, if you don't stop moving, I'm going to turn you into a rat and stuff you into one of my socks!" he growled, irritated.

She frowned in her sleep, murmuring incoherently before sighing. "…why would you…want to…?"

He stiffened, letting his hand drop. Was she … awake? Why did that sound so familiar…?

She smiled sweetly before muttering, "You smell good."

He held in a laugh of disbelief before dabbing at the deep scratch on her cheek, noticing for the first time that her cheeks were pasty pale and smooth. Small freckles danced faintly across her cheeks. Slow, even breaths left her parted lips and he noticed their fullness. The pale pink hue made her look sick.

He muttered a low oath as his handkerchief soaked the blood from her face, the crimson liquid staining it. He'd never use the handkerchief again, he thought sullenly, still slightly bothered about the familiarity of her strange mutterings.

He left the room, running the fabric under water before coming back and dabbing once more at the almost clean cut. Hermione wriggled and hissed under his touch.

"Stop moving Granger," he snapped loudly, knowing full well that she was still too sick for her brain to function. With the cut clean and red, he looked through the drawers of the washroom once more to find a band aid to place on the cut so that it would cease dripping everywhere.

He sighed, finding none.

So he walked back into the room, standing a good distance away from her, his arms at his sides as he watched her sleep peacefully on the bed, the bed sheet that had made her trip was still on the ground. He gathered the bed sheet into his arms and threw it unceremoniously on her, hesitant to tuck it in.

He decided not to touch her further.

"Mmhmm," she giggled breathlessly. "Sorry… I don't dance… with strangers," she breathed quietly, clutching the bed spread with her tiny fists, turning her face away from view.

He stiffened then cautiously approached her once again. Experimentally, he answered, "You danced with me earlier on today, why does it matter this time?" he asked uncertainly. He held his breath, listening as she breathed slowly, evenly. He thought she was asleep.

Then she started humming, the song was too familiar to forget. It was the song of the last dance at the Moonday Masquerade Ball. "Because…" she answered softly, "My last dance… is saved… for my boyfriend."

"Oh Merlin," he muttered in disbelief, the words leaving her mouth sounding all too familiar.

She frowned and then sniffled. "Wait… Ron's not my boyfriend… anymore… is he?"

He frowned again, sitting on the edge of her bed, his handkerchief long forgotten on her pillow. "No," he bit out, "—he's not."

Her face cleared and she was smirking at him, her eyes still closed, half asleep and dreaming. "Tell me," she whispered, "Why with… me? I am… a Gryffindor… after all…"

Draco narrowed his gaze on her fluttering eyelashes before answering like he had the night of the dance. "Lions and serpents are trucing tonight. There's no harm in giving me a chance, is there?" He touched her arm lightly, like a spider making its way across her skin and she shivered at his touch. Slowly, his hand made its way down her arm and over her open palm and she held onto it tightly before letting a sigh escape her lips.

Acting on instinct, he leaned his lips closer to hers, claiming them in a gentle kiss, her lips unmoving beneath his. He marvelled at the way her lips fit snugly in his. They were so soft and warm, just like her, and even though she was unresponsive, he _liked _it.

Just as he was about to stop, her body stiffened and he remained still like a statue, his lips still connected to hers, his skin prickling with unease. She relaxed and whimpered softly, her lips parting unknowingly and he growled deep in his throat, kissing her once, twice more before she timidly did the same.

Surprised he withdrew, looking at her a bit confused and a tad disoriented. "Gran-Hermione, are you awake?" he whispered.

A slow smile touched her lips as she sighed for the hundredth time. "No," she breathed. "Please… kiss me again."

"That isn't a good idea," he murmured quietly, his fists clenching the blanket tightly. "Not a good idea at all."

"Bloody brilliant… idea," she whined breathlessly, her eyebrows furrowed.

He placed a hand on her forehead and was pleased to find it was burning hot. Pleased because his actions tonight would be forgotten. "Alright," he sighed as if he was unhappy. "One last time," he muttered.

She smiled softly, turning to his smooth voice. And at that moment, she looked radiant, her fever created a light blush to her cheeks, her dark eyelashes fluttering slowly, steadily, and her lips a shade lighter than red.

He leaned forward, touching his lips gently against hers, earning him a whimper of satisfaction. Never had he kissed so gently in his life. He told himself it was because she was sick and weak. Not because he cared. Never because he cared. Experimentally, he touched his tongue to hers and a current of electricity passed through his body.

In the background, he could hear a deep chuckle and a strange noise but he ignored it and slanted his mouth over Hermione's again as she hummed appreciatively.

"Malfoy, what are you doing?"

He pushed away from the bed and stumbled over to the desk, his head snapping towards the door with wide eyes. Narrowing his gaze, hoping the heat in his cheeks disappeared, he murmured dangerously, "What happens in our common room, stays in our common room. I better not hear a rumor about this tomorrow morning or your head is mine. The both of you!" he threatened loudly, ducking his head into the bathroom and into his room.

Mikan laughed out loud, tugging Natsume's hand with hers. "So… that was interesting."

"Who would've thought," he sneered, looking pointedly at Malfoy's door.

"_I heard that,_" he hollered. "And shut up!"

* * *

_My Hopeless Romantic_


	15. Blistering Bravery

**Disclaimer: **All recognizable characters from Gakuen Alice belong to Tachibana Higuchi and characters from Harry Potter belong to J. K. Rowling. :) This Harry Alice is mine.

* * *

Pandemonium comes with strangers in masks.

**Chapter Fourteen: Blistering Bravery  
**

-;-

The frosty December air filtered into Mikan's open windows.

The gray skies were devoid of sunlight and it darkened the Hogwarts campus. The snowy flakes falling from the sky never seemed to cease as the grounds covered with layers upon layers of thickly packed condensation.

Mikan paid no attention to this under the covers of her silky warm comforter. She burrowed deeper into her pillow with every stroke of the second hand of the clock. She really didn't want to wake up to get to classes this particular Wednesday morning. Especially because Natsume had decided he wanted to show the school just how much he didn't care about what the students in the school thought of their relationship.

It was nerve wracking, to say the least.

Under her blanket, Mikan tried some slow breathing exercises, trying to dispel the thoughts of today. What would the other Gryffindors think? Would she be skinned alive by the Slytherins? What about the other two Houses? She had a feeling something bad would happen today and she really didn't want to have to confront it so soon.

But after sulking for a few more minutes and daydreaming about the wonderful time they'd had the night before, roaming the corridors catching a few light kisses, feathery caresses and silent glances, she found herself bounding out of bed and with a flurry of clothes, she was up and into the bathroom in record time.

The bath was already running. It took a moment to realize Natsume had probably done that for her. It was a welcome surprise and she hurried to finish her usual morning routines before bounding into her room, pulling on her uniform with an extra scarf and socks and putting a light brush of makeup on her cheeks. Not bothering to check her reflection again, she jumped into her shoes and was out of her room with an extra bounce to her step.

Until she caught Natsume waiting for her in one of the gold two seat leather couches by the fireplace.

The grin on her lips turned into a shy smile. "Morning, Natsume," Mikan greeted softly, walking slowly to his side.

His eyes seemed to glow a little bit brighter before he smirked, opening up his arms as an invitation for her to have a seat on his lap. "Come here," he said.

Her eyebrow rose and she put a hand on her hip indignantly before settling a frown on her face. "Excuse me?"

He rolled his eyes and frowned himself, scowling in her direction with his arms still open. "I said come here, Stupid. Don't keep me waiting."

"You think that just because we're not-dating you can tell me what to do?" she asked playfully, not budging from her firm stance in front of him. She gave herself permission to let her eyes wander over him and in conclusion she realized…

Natsume Hyuuga really was a handsome boy. His school uniform was nice and fitted over his lanky body. The black of his uniform with the stray touches of green made the crimson of his eyes stronger and more intense. The top two buttons of his black shirt were unbuttoned revealing a film of lightly tanned skin that touched his neck like a perfect slit of water. None of his skin was uneven and Mikan couldn't help but think that it should be illegal for a boy to have such perfect skin.

He was like a reincarnate of Adonis himself. The dark shade from the fireplace was causing shadows to flit around his face, accentuating his cheekbones and the strong set of his jaws, the sly arch of his eyebrows and the smirk on his lips.

"I'll say it one more time…" Natsume said calmly. "Come here."

She folded her arms protectively over her chest, staring back at him defiantly. "I'm not going to have a boyfriend that is a controlling bastard, you know," she told him firmly, her jaw set like his. "Besides, what are you going to do, light me on fire?" she scoffed.

With a flash of movement, the brush of skin against her legs and around her back, she squeaked with surprise finding herself on his lap, his expression bored but bright. "It would've been easier if you'd just obeyed," he said simply. "I always get my way, one way or another and it's best if we make that clear in the early stages of our relationship."

She snorted with a laugh, punching him hard in the arm. "Well, that makes two of us, Pervert," she snickered before bounding away from his arms with her tongue stuck out childishly. "I'll meet you down for breakfast," she called loudly, hearing a loud thud behind Malfoy's door. "I'm going to wake up Hermione!"

He didn't move a single inch from his perch on the couch like he hadn't heard a word that came from her mouth so she shrugged and let herself into Hermione's room.

The girl in question was under the covers, light snores coming from her nose still pink and stuffy from her cold. Pressing a light hand on Hermione's forehead, Mikan felt the slight warmth on her skin and with her other hand, she placed it on her own forehead. The temperatures were the same and Hermione was just being a lazy arse.

"Hermione, wake up," Mikan called, prodding the girl awake.

Grumbling incoherently, Hermione's eyes gently started to peel open, a groan making its way to her lips. "M-Mikan?" she murmured. "I'm still sick. Go away."

"Yeah, it's me. Get up please or you're going to miss breakfast and classes. You are _not _that sick anymore. That spotless attendance will be going down the drain," Mikan scolded.

With another muffled groan, Hermione jarred her eyes awake, ripped the blankets from her body and bounded around the room, throwing around her clothes not bothering to take a morning shower. Oddly energetic after her day of sickness, she hummed an upbeat song while pulling on her clothes and shoving her feet into her shoes with Mikan watching her every move curiously.

"So," she started, dragging out the syllable. "How was your night…? You got better pretty quickly after that massive cold," Mikan commented slyly.

Hermione's cheeks flushed before darting her gaze towards the door of the shared bathroom with Malfoy. "Nothing happened," she finally sighed. "I just had a nice dream, is all."

"Nice dream…?" Mikan asked, genuinely curious. A beautiful smile made its way to her lips.

Hermione turned her face towards the strange friend before her before repeating, "Yeah, a nice dream. Now let's go get some breakfast. If I'm going to start puking again, I might as well have something good in my tummy for a while."

Both of the girls left the room, Hermione was surprised to see Natsume approaching them. Her surprise didn't last long before a smile crossed her lips and she made an excuse about talking to the professors before class, leaving Mikan and Natsume to walk down to the Great Hall together.

"She thinks she's so subtle," Mikan muttered dangerously under her breath.

"I'm not complaining," he answered, slinking an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to his body and rubbing a hand over her hip possessively.

She growled softly, batting his hands away and pushing him a respectable distance away. Whispering quietly, she said, "You can't do that in public, Natsume. Not yet. I'm not ready."

He looked at her closely, gouging her mood and then her expression before he looked around curiously. After checking that the coast was clear, Natsume grabbed Mikan firmly by the arms and pulled her behind a draped tapestry. "Natsume, what are you—"

He cut her off, laying a kiss onto her lips almost hungrily. He kissed her in a way that showed what he felt, something deep and passionate, something lovely and beautiful. Kissing, he thought, had never been this good before.

"I've wanted to do that all morning," he groaned into her hair, his hand on either side of her body, trapping her between his body and the wall. He kissed her again, longer and deeper, savouring the flavour of her lips before she pushed his chest gently, her eyelashes fluttering open.

"Natsume…" she warned, a sparkle of delight still in her eyes as she scolded him.

He sighed, raking a hand through his hair before stealing another kiss and pulling them out from behind the tapestry, scaring a few third years with a glare.

Mikan giggled.

"The school's never going to be ready for us so we might as well get this out in the open now," he muttered slowly, answering her last comment, itching to touch her again. Instead, he settled for taking her hand in his, gently rubbing the inside of her wrist in slow circles and to his delight, she didn't pull away.

"I don't know if I'm ready to face the wrath of this school," she muttered softly, squeezing his hand a little harder than necessary. "I'm not sure I can take the looks that we'll get or the rumours that will start flying once it happens. I just don't know if I can do it."

He squeezed her hand in return, their shoulders brushing softly as he looked out from the corner of his eyes to the girl standing beside him. Though he had only just found out that she was the girl that he had been thinking of for more than three months, Natsume couldn't help but think that for more than six years, he had been blind.

How had he managed to ignore this girl, this perfect girl, before him when she was staring him in the face the whole entire time? Sure, at first he had been more than a little surprised to realize she was the mysterious girl that he had been fantasizing about, but after the three days in which she had been in the hospital, he had had plenty of time to think and come to the conclusion that, maybe she was just what he needed. She _was_ just what he needed.

He had missed her, all of those days that she was in the hospital wing. He missed the childish arguments that connected them everyday, the passionate way she talked about mindless little things and the overall glow of her personality that lit up the corners of his insignificant heart.

She was different and special…

… And she was looking at him like he was a crazy fool.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked him, a smirk on her lovely face.

He scowled darkly, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "You're not going to be alone with all of this, you know," he answered instead, darting a glance at her. "I'm going to be there with you and I'm not going to leave you alone, whether you like it or not."

"I don't know…" she murmured again, staring anxiously ahead of her. "I really don't know, Natsume."

He sighed, slightly frustrated. Turning her around and checking both ways, he kissed her once again and took her hands, staring intently in her eyes. "I'm not going to make you do anything you don't want to do so when we go to breakfast, I'll go to the Slytherin table, like every other day, and you can go to the Gryffindork table like always, okay?"

He smiled and then laughed at her offended expression before giving her hand a squeeze, clearing his throat and walking to the entrance of the Great Hall. He cast a reassuring smile over his shoulder before schooling his features into a bored expression and stepping into the drone of chattering students within.

Rubbing her arms anxiously and looking from left to right to see if anybody was around, she stepped back and sat against the wall, trying to put all of her options into light.

"Why am I being such a baby?" she muttered softly, running a hand through her hair in frustration.

The way she saw it, she had two main options. Either she took the cowardly way out, slinking away from the pressures of the students in the school for somebody that she was positive she loved. Or, she could be a real Gryffindor. Someone that didn't let somebody _else _tell her who she was. She wanted to be somebody that told _them_ who she was.

What kind of bravery was she displaying now, sitting with her back against the wall in defeat for something that hadn't even happened? What kind of loyalty was she showing now that she was backing out on Natsume after they had just gotten things sorted out? After he had been so supportive and so understanding?

"This sucks," she concluded, getting up to her feet and brushing off her pants with lights hands. Shaking her head, her hands shaking roughly, she bent her head low, making her way into the Great Hall, all the while muttering, "I hate this, I hate this, I hate this, I hate this."

_What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?_

Looking out at the four long tables to the right, her eyes scoured the faces of random students, chattering and laughing happily, forking food into mouths and swallowing goblets of pumpkin juice.

From the Gryffindor table, Hermione, Harry and Aoi were sitting with their heads together, speaking silently. Her eyes darted to the Slytherin table searching for a few welcome faces. She eyes paused on Blaise Zabini and Draco Malfoy. Finally, she stopped at Natsume, gazing at him intently. And as if feeling her eyes on him, Natsume looked up from his untouched plate, a small, almost invisible smile flashing on his face as he leaned his chin on the palm of his hand, his elbow propped up on the table.

His eyebrow rose as if asking, "What are you going to do now?"

She swallowed and looked away from his gaze, heading over to the Gryffindor table, not before catching the hurt look on his face. She wove her way to the middle of the table, ducking her head and nodding to the "Hello's" directed to her before she stopped before Harry and Hermione, placing her lips between the areas of their ears.

"Mikan, what are yo—"

"Don't hate me for this, please," she whispered quietly, avoiding the anxious glances from Hermione and the suspicious expression on Harry's face. "Don't judge, don't label, just listen," she hissed urgently, kneeling down between them.

"You have to promise me that nothing will change between us, we'll always be friends and that you won't look at me differently than you're looking at me now." She looked at them both, their expressions both displaying concern for her sanity. She frowned, "Okay, maybe not how you're looking at me _now_ but you know what I mean," she mumbled.

"Mikan, I don't understand—"

She cut them off with a shake of her head before whispering, "You'll understand."

And with that, she stood up squaring her shoulders, trying to stop the shaking of her hands and the trembling of her knees as she slowly looked at the faces surrounding her. She felt as if every pair of eyes in the Great Hall was looking at her, watching her every move, curious as to what she was going to do.

Swallowing hard, she walked to the Slytherin table, ignoring the jabs and whispers starting to hum around the room. Flashing a nervous smile at Draco and Blaise, she stopped in front of Natsume, pulled him up by the collar of his shirt and planted a solid kiss square on his lips, eyes closed securely.

A hush fell upon the Great Hall when they parted after just under a minute of lip lock and she didn't bother looking at anyone else. Instead, she smiled bravely and settled down to the bare strip of bench right beside Natsume, bumping his shoulder with hers as he smirked lightly, placing an arm around her waist. She reached over his arm to steal bits of his breakfast.

The whispers of disbelief and scandal filled the room but they fell on deaf ears as Mikan swatted Natsume's hands away from her waist, flashing an endearing smile his way.

And all this time, Professor Dumbledore had a large smile on his face as he watched the whole exchange with twinkling blue eyes.

"It looks like the prophecy is well on its way…"

* * *

_My Hopeless Romantic_


	16. Crusty Confrontations

**Disclaimer: **All recognizable characters from Gakuen Alice belong to Tachibana Higuchi and characters from Harry Potter belong to J. K. Rowling. :) This Harry Alice is mine.

* * *

Pandemonium comes with strangers in masks.

**Chapter Fifteen: Crusty Confrontations  
**

-;-

The Great Hall was in an uproar after the spectacle they had just witnessed from the popular Slytherin and the beautiful Gryffindor. It was utter chaos and the students and even _teachers_ around them didn't know how to react. There were shouts of disbelief, fainting, anger and the ever popular _huh?_

But for one student, the reactions caused from the school were utterly and completely amusing, if not annoying.

From his seat at the Gryffindor bench, Koko watched the turmoil unfold before him, complete with a silly grin on his face. With all of the crap that he'd gone through in his own personal life, he could only welcome this new event with open arms and an open mind.

Not that he could help it.

From across the room at the Slytherin table, he watched as Malfoy's face contorted into a half grin, half smirk, watching silently as the couple remained painfully oblivious to the school's avid attention. Or maybe Natsume Hyuuga was just whispering some painfully _distracting_ things in Mikan's ear.

Only he would be able to find out. But Koko being Koko decided to keep that little secret till the very end. Instead, he settled his brown eyes on the pale faced ferret boy that happened to be staring distractedly in his direction. Something was obviously on the Slytherin's mind and Koko was definitely going to find out what.

With a mischievous grin on his face, Koko blocked out every other voice from his mind, focusing solely on the Slytherin of his eye, narrowing them questionably.

_She doesn't remember a damn thing, does she? _The familiar, bold voice hissed roughly in his mind, a low growl of disbelief hidden behind the veil of his voice.

Koko tried not to break the connection within Malfoy's mind as he looked to his left, trying to figure out who it was that Malfoy was talking about. Finding it completely pointless trying to do two things at once, for he was no woman, he decided to continue listening to Malfoy, hoping to find some clues there.

There was nothing though, which was awfully peculiar since the human mind, whether conscious or unconscious, always had a thought in mind. Was Malfoy brain dead or something?

_You don't want her to remember a damn thing, Draco. Stop over thinking everything._

Slow, unsteady inhales and exhales rumbled within Malfoy's mind and Koko smirked gleefully, obviously very pleased with his Alice.

_Don't think about it. Stop thinking about the damn thing! It was nothing special… just a stupid kiss. She was delirious and you were tired. You didn't know what you were doing… it's fine. You didn't like it at all. You were probably hallucinating after your bloody study session. Get that damn, proud Muggleborn out of your _mind_!_

Koko tried to muffle a cough of amusement, darting a gaze to his right when Malfoy looked his way. To think that Malfoy was getting worked up over a simple _kiss_. The sky had to be falling and pigs must be flying because the day when the playboy Draco Malfoy started worrying over a _kiss _meant the end of their lives.

Literally.

And the fact that Malfoy was talking to himself in the _second person_ was absolutely hilarious! Koko grinned from one ear to the other as he turned back to look at the blonde to find him looking right back at him.

_Yome? Damn it, Yome, if you're listening to me, turn away and then back in my direction!_

Deciding to tease him a bit, Koko turned in Malfoy's direction, only he was looking at Blaise. A frown crossed Draco's lips as he furrowed his brows, obviously quite frustrated.

_Damn, wait. Something else… hold your fork up if you can hear me._

Scratching his head, Koko shrugged his shoulders and reached for his fork. In the process, something caught his eye; a delicious piece of pie. Stabbing the piece of pie, Koko lifted it to his mouth and took a hearty chew, an angry voice still in his head.

_Damn it, Yome! You can be doing anything! You'll never hear me say this again but - actually, I take it back - you _will_ hear it from me again. STAB YOURSELF WITH THAT FORK!_

Koko turned around, a smirk dancing across his lips and the silly grin still a shadow on his face as he raised a hand and stuck the middle finger up in Malfoy's direction, a wry smile on his face. Malfoy narrowed his eyes at him and fingered him in return.

_Yome, listen here. Say a damn thing about whatever you heard and I will personally send hell to you on a silver platter, got that?_

Koko gave a half shrug before turning fully away to the only Muggleborn Gryffindor that he knew and sent a sly smile Malfoy's way, watching as the pale faced ferret turned a shade lighter than white.

On to his next victim: Hermione Granger.

She was blinking curiously, turned away from the Slytherin's table, drumming her fingers on the table with a steady thrum. Her eyes were vacant and distracted.

With a curious shrug, he probed into her mind and smiled wryly.

_- too nice. I mean, who has a dream like that? It was too vivid, too real to be a figment of my imagination. Furthermore, I could _feel_ him… hear him. Or who am I kidding, Draco Malfoy, in my room? I really must be hallucinating. That or I'm extremely desperate…_

Koko blinked.

Well that was interesting. He hadn't noticed before but Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, or according to Natsume Hyuuga, the Boy-That-Just-Wouldn't-Die - was lying unconscious on the floor by Hermione's feet and she seemed oblivious.

Very interesting, indeed. Too bad. Potter had a knack for being brave and keeping his head in startlingly difficult situations and yet, here he was, out cold after his best friend came public with the Slytherin Prince.

Speaking of enemies, Ronald Weasley was looking awfully ugly. If Koko didn't know better, he would've thought Ron was submitting to a serious case of allergies, hives bloating his face. But having known the carrot top for several years now, Koko knew better than anyone that Ronald Weasley wasn't suffering from an allergic reaction. No, he was just being a Weasley when he was angry, a frying sausage, red and sizzling with anger.

He wasn't known for his great bravery. Others would say that Ronald Weasley was a coward. Once again, Koko knew better than anyone else. Ronald Weasley wasn't brave. Nor was he a coward, really. Ronald Weasley had a stupid kind of guts, because in a nutshell, Ronald Weasley loved attention. And by the look on his face, it seemed as though he had found the perfect opportunity to showcase his love for the public eye.

With a stupid scowl on his face, his fists clenched into tight balls, he marched his way down the aisle of the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables and strode towards the Slytherin table. His flaming red locks moved in time with his steps as he slowly advanced towards the area in which Mikan and Natsume were sitting.

His feet, Koko knew, were purposely being loud and obnoxious, just like the owner. Koko watched with avid interest as Ron stopped fully behind the Slytherin and placed a hand on Natsume's shoulder, shoving him backwards and onto the ground. His face broke into a grin when the Slytherin put out a hand and with a fast jerk of his wrist, flipped in the air and landed lithely on his feet, graceful and poised as always. A cool, bored expression remained on his face as he slipped a hand into his pocket with a sigh.

"What do you want now, Weasley?" he asked gruffly, rolling his neck.

The voice in Koko's mind spoke cockily._ To put your damn face under my foot where you belong._

He didn't need to read the Weasley's mind anymore seeing as everything that went on in his mind was spoken loud and clear out of the red haired boy's mouth.

An unspoken hush fell over the Great Hall as everyone turned their attention to the soon to be battle before them.

A smirk fell upon Hyuuga's lips and from beside him, Mikan stiffened and turned swiftly around on the bench to face the two boys.

"Oh really, now?" Natsume drawled, rolling his eyes. "Unlike you, I don't have the time to deal with your pettiness. I have a life." As if making a point, Natsume put a hand on Mikan's shoulder but never looked away from Ron's gaze.

"Don't you dare touch her," Ron snarled, slapping away his hand and stepping in between the two. "You're scum. You can't touch her."

Ron being a moron, Natsume could take. Being told that he couldn't touch his own girlfriend, well, that was hell to pay right there. Natsume's eyes blazed cold with fury as he stepped closer to Ron, his eyes darkening with unsuppressed anger and he was practically bristling under his cool exterior. "She's my girlfriend, not yours. Now back_ off_, Weasley. Before I do something that we'll both regret."

Mikan stood up. "Ron, he's right. You don't have any control over what we do. Stand aside, please," Mikan spoke up softly, lowering his arm and stepping closer to Natsume, pulling his arm back a bit to settle him down.

Clenching his jaw, Natsume stepped back, exhaling loudly before turning a cool gaze back to Ron. Koko fought to slam his hands over both of his ears to cease the flow of loud curses that seemed to be rolling around Natsume's mind like a never ending pool. A bunch of dark promises and torturous deaths played through his mind. Each ending with a certain Ronald Weasley being engulfed in flames.

Ron laughed out loud, the sound bouncing off the stone walls and ricocheted around the room like a surround sound system. His blue eyes were daring. "Well, don't we all know who wears the pants in this relationship…" he smirked.

"That's enough, Ron. Back off," Mikan hissed quietly, standing in front of her boyfriend, holding his hand in an iron clad grip. "Stop causing trouble."

"I wouldn't be talking,_ traitor_."

Stung and highly affronted, Mikan took a step back, her face falling and her bangs covering her eyes as her shoulders shook. Natsume whirled around, eyes flashing. "You fucking bitch!" There was a sharp crack and the next moment, Ron was a crumpled heap on the floor, holding his face almost gingerly.

"Natsume!" Mikan jumped up to pull his arm away. "Stop!"

Growling low under his breath, Natsume retreated briefly, cracking his knuckles and flexing his arms as if ready to lunge in for the kill if the opportunity presented itself again. His jaw was clenched so tight and hard that Koko wouldn't have been surprised if his teeth disintegrated with the effort he was exerting to restrain himself.

Trembling from head to toe, Mikan stepped forward and helped a red faced Ron to his feet, much to Natsume and the Slytherins' dismay. "Don't you ever, _ever_ call me that again. Do you hear me?" Mikan hissed in his ear, letting go of his arm like it was the plague.

Ron rolled his eyes painfully and wiped the trail of blood that trickled from his lip. "I just tell it as it is, _Sakura_."

She shook her head with a wry smile on her face. "No, Weasley. You're just being an unbearable bastard," she commented dryly, taking Natsume's hand in hers.

"Oh?" Ron scoffed, then winced. "You're the one fraternizing with the enemy. I'm not sure if you've realized or not but he's a bloody _Slytherin_. Gryffindors and Slytherins aren't supposed to mix." Earnestly now, he continued, "Since the beginning of time, practically the moment this school was founded, we've all had an understanding about the hatred towards the Slytherins. It's tradition and has been tradition since the beginning of time! You can't change it all now."

Mikan scoffed and snorted disbelieving. "Honestly, Ron. How transparent can you be? We're hardly enemies and I doubt the founders of Hogwarts planned us to have such animosity towards each other. I mean, maybe a little friendly competition didn't hurt but this is just insane!"

"It's been like this since the beginning. You can't change this now!" he snarled back, eyes ablaze.

"Traditions can be broken and I think it's time for us to make a tradition of our own," Mikan called loudly, her voice strong and laced with passion. "This whole thing about Houses being enemies and the resistance that we put up everyday is absolute nonsense. I _hate_ it."

At this point, the tension in the air was palpable and Mikan Sakura was bristling and trembling with emotion as Natsume held her hand tightly in his own, forcing himself to keep away from the red faced Weasley and restraining himself from engulfing the girl beside him in his arms.

Koko looked around curiously, his gaze falling on Hotaru Imai. The stoic inventor was holding Ruka Nogi's hand tightly, a grim smile on her face. From her pocket protruded a gun shaped handle and by the way she was clenching and unclenching her hands, Koko knew that she wanted to take it and start a massacre to end all massacres.

… _Let him say one more damn word and I'll blow his head off, _were the exact words from her mind. _One more damn word, come on…_

Ruka Nogi, on the other hand, was worried. He never did like conflict much and seeing two of his closest friends speaking like this in front of such a crowd made him worry. Who knew how they'd react? But he knew who he supported and he knew who Hotaru supported and that was all that mattered.

Taking her small hand in his, Ruka led the way to the circle of conflict, weaving his way to Natsume's side with a confident smirk on his face. Hotaru followed obediently, her hands reaching instantly to her pocket.

"Don't say another word Weasley because I swear, my finger will _slip_ and this trigger will be_ pulled_ and if I'm not satisfied with the results, I swear - my fingers will slip _quite a few__times__,_ if need be," Hotaru promised darkly, a small, menacing smile on her lips.

Ronald Weasley seemed unfazed, his hands dangling at his sides, the blood on his face drying and the look on his face, unaffected. He opened his mouth to shoot a smarmy comment when -

"Oh please don't tell me you're going to bother saying something," drawled a painfully bored voice from behind him. A pale, blond haired boy emerged from behind the group and leaned an arm onto Mikan's shoulder in an oddly affectionate way, his head tilted to the side. The tension in the room making him oddly more handsome than usual as his soft flaxen hair dropped precariously over his eyes before he blew them away with a quick breath from his lips.

Draco Malfoy was feeling left out and damn it all if he couldn't find a way to be a part of the situation. Malfoys were never on the sidelines; they had to be a part of the drama. Helping his friends was just a bonus. Two birds with one stone, why not?

"You won't win, Weasley. Quit while you are far behind."

Hands clenched, Ron worked his jaw tirelessly before turning away from them. "You guys think you're being high and mighty right now. You think you can break all the rules so easily but let me tell you now, there are more people than you think that don't like this idea."

He cast a condescending glance at the room and sneered, "They're just too cowardly to do a damn thing."

"Shut your mouth, Ron."

Draco turned his head and groaned. "I thought the gods blessed us from your presence, Scarhead. I was wrong. I guess you've finally revived from the pansy world."

Pansy Parkinson yelped with indignation only to be silenced minutes later by Crabbe and Goyle. Harry Potter, on the other hand, was flushing furiously as he made his way to Ron's side, pulling his arm. "Come, Ron. Let's get out of here."

Mikan's head snapped in his direction and a look of utter despair and hurt crossed her face as she looked down with disappointment. To think that one of her best friend's had decided to ignore her pleas, ignore _her._

"Harry, please—"

"Don't, okay?" Harry muttered, turning to lead Ron away. "Just - let me think about this. I need to _think_."

On his way out the doors to the Great Hall, he passed Hermione and she, in return, sent him a condescending look of her own before she marched right up to the group near the Slytherin table, standing beside Malfoy, who stiffened.

"I'm sorry I didn't come here earlier. I was - puzzled about something."

Mikan smiled, shaking her head and giving her a reassuring pat on the back. "No worries. I'm just glad that you're joining us on the ride."

Koko snapped his head towards the teacher's bench that lined the very front of the Great Hall. The dark, mysterious figures of the teachers sat still, some whispering to others while the rest just looked at the spectacle before them.

The sound of students making their way out of the Hall was thunderous but the group near the Slytherin table didn't stir. They stood or sat and talked. Just talked.

"I can't believe the teachers just watched without doing a single thing," Ruka shook his head, puzzled and disbelieving.

Hotaru leaned over onto his shoulder and blinked. "I'm glad that we're doing this, together. All of us," she spoke up, her voice dull and monotonous. She sent Mikan a small smile and took hold of her hand, squeezing softly.

Koko, tired of being the only one left on the Gryffindor bench, made his way over to the group, smiling with his trademark silly grin on his face. "Hiya guys!" he chirped merrily, sinking into a seat beside Sumire Shouda who scurried a distance away.

"I'm with you guys on this one," he added, sending a wink in Sumire's direction. "This house thing is getting annoying. I have to make some progress with a certain _girl_, if you know what I mean."

Natsume rolled his eyes almost painfully, pulling Mikan to his side and standing up. Groaning, he commented, "All of this talk about togetherness is making me want to vomit. Polka and I are off, good night."

"It's breakfast time, where are you two going?" Sumire called, exasperated.

Waving over his shoulder, Natsume snaked an arm around Mikan's waist before traipsing out the door. Only Koko knew what he had in mind.

"Nogi and I are going too," Hotaru called, pulling the smitten boy after her, her trusty gun was placed back in her pocket as they turned to the opposite direction to where the other two had left.

With a sigh, the group started dispersing, Draco Malfoy was grabbing remains of a pie before darting a furtive glance at Hermione, catching her eye before striding towards the exit, the others following his example.

It was only then, when Sumire Shouda was ready to leave did she whisper in the Mind Reader's ear, "Hey, don't you think it's creepy that Dumbledore keeps looking at us with that smarmy smile on his face?" she shuddered with repulsion. "God, it makes me nervous."

Koko, a wry smile on his face, waved at the Headmaster who, in turn, waved back with an extra twinkle in his eyes as he dismissed the teachers and called off all classes for the day. Silence surrounded the Mind Reader, just the way Koko liked it and he smiled.

Koko knew many things that the others didn't. He knew about secret feelings the students had towards a special someone; he knew the thoughts of teachers as they walked out the door and most importantly, he knew about the prophecy.

You could say that Koko was clever. Very clever, indeed.

The prophecy would come true. Very soon actually, he thought with a silly grin on his face. He got up, dusting off his pants before walking towards the window, looking out at a blond haired Slytherin and a brown eyed Gryffindor, speaking in low whispers.

On a large boulder, sat a lonely green haired, crazy lady.

Yes, Koko was very clever.

He shrugged. Well, it was either that or he was a hopeful fool.

And frankly, he wouldn't be surprised if both happened to be true. He was a Mind Reader, after all. He knew things that others didn't, that had to count for something.

…Right?

* * *

_My Hopeless Romantic_


	17. Frivolous Fights

**Disclaimer: **All recognizable characters from Gakuen Alice belong to Tachibana Higuchi and characters from Harry Potter belong to J. K. Rowling. :) This Harry Alice is mine.

* * *

Pandemonium comes with strangers in masks.

**Chapter Sixteen: Frivolous Fights  
**

-;-

"What did you want to talk to me about Granger?" Draco drawled exasperatedly, tucking his hands into the pockets of his pants and tilting his head to look up into the sky.

It was grey and cloudy. The cool breeze blew casually against their exposed flesh as they both stood a distance away from the great castle, looking anywhere but at each other. It was still early morning and with the scene that transpired in the Great Hall during breakfast, they both wanted some much needed air and strangely enough, the other's company wasn't that bad at all.

Hermione breathed the cool air deeply and fiddled with the scarf that dangled around her neck before looking at her companion. With his eyes pointed to the sky, Hermione didn't need to worry about him catching her staring. She just couldn't help but feel that familiar drop in her stomach when she looked at him and remembered that very vivid dream that she had the night before.

Though she still doubted that he would bother to come into her room and _kiss_ her, there was still that nagging voice in her head that advised her to probe that option thoroughly.

She regarded his light hair that looked soft to the touch. It was cropped short but she marvelled at the fact that he could make even an ordinary hair cut look sophisticated. His cheekbones were slightly pointed and added with the soft ivory of his skin, his overall facial features left him with an aristocratic look.

What was even more fascinating about his face wasn't the healthy pale pink of his lips or his perfectly symmetrical nose but the stormy grey tempest within his eyes. Though from afar they didn't look as special as Natsume Hyuuga's, who seemed to shine with an assured confidence, Malfoy's eyes were enigmatic. The deep spots within his irises seemed to swirl with gusto when he was angry and remained unmoving when he was calm.

They were one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen. Maybe he would let her take a closer look…She snorted softly which caused Malfoy to look at her with a frown. "Granger, what do you want to talk about?" he repeated.

She shrugged, slightly embarrassed. "Can't I want to talk to another Head student?"

His eyebrows rose disbelieving. His eyes darkened with suspicion and she mentally kicked herself.

_That sounded stupid even to her._

"No, I don't suppose you can," he sniffed. "Since when have you ever wanted to talk to me without hiding the too obvious need to curse me off the face of the planet?"

"I don't _always_ want to curse you, Malfoy," Hermione huffed, scuffing her shoes on the snow covered ground and rubbing her hands over her arms. She looked up at him with angry eyes and hissed, "It may seem like a surprise to you but I have no problem trying to be friends with you. It's _you_ that always has to make me change my mind by trying to make me feel like I'm the dirt beneath your feet!"

He opened his mouth but she cut him off. "Don't even try to say the whole _"Well, your blood is filthy, isn't it Mudblood?"_ thing because that was old centuries ago." She crossed her arms over her chest and sneered at him. "That was what you were going to say, wasn't it?" she bit out dryly.

"Wow Granger, you really know me _too_ well. Only you'll never know what I was really going to say now, will you?" Draco smirked, taming his hair by running a hand through it. "Assuming," he drew out the word, "—isn't a good thing, Granger. You know what assuming makes us, don't you?"

She huffed and pursed her lips.

He answered for her. "It makes an ass out of you and me, Granger. So don't assume things about me that you'll never understand."

Hermione shook her head. _He was unbelievable!_

"I understand you just fine!" she snapped, stomping her foot on the ground. "I know that you are the most selfish and egotistical person in this school! Better yet, strike that! You're the most arrogant and self-absorbed person in the _universe_!"

She kicked a pile of snow onto his person and gritted her teeth. "You don't care about another damn person but yourself and that's how it has always been! You are a sadistic bastard that finds pleasure in tormenting and degrading others because of their blood purity, their physical appearance or their mental capacity! You try to act all high and mighty, pretending to be this superior and fearless _guy_ when in reality; you are a _pitiful_, _pathetic coward. _The only damn reason you switched to the Light side is because you were afraid and you knew that we'd _win!"_

Bristling from head to toe, Hermione stepped back shaking with anger and wondered where she had gotten that confidence. Most probable reason for that was because Malfoy always seemed to bring out the fiery anger from the pit in her stomach. She dared to chance Malfoy a glance and he looked absolutely murderous; his fists were clenching and unclenching by his sides and his soft, blond locks jerked around furiously with the wind that was swirling around him like a wind storm.

His eyes were dark with a hidden fury and it looked like he was putting up every restraint to stop himself from sucker punching her face.

Schooling his facial features, his expression returned to an infuriating impassiveness that made Hermione's skin crawl. His lips were pursed into a thin line before he sneered at her. "For the Know-It-All that everyone praises for being a _saint_, you sure are a judgmental half-wit."

She was stunned with her mouth agape. That definitely wasn't what she had been expecting from him.

He continued, ignoring her indignation. "Really Granger, you can rant all you want about my character and my intentions but I seriously don't give a damn anymore."

He looked at her one last time, her fingers clenched around the red and gold scarf around her neck, before he turned around and started back towards the castle.

"And I don't care that you don't care," she called back with a sharp edge to her voice.

Malfoy looked back at her closely, his eyes intense and speculative. After a minute he shook his head wryly. "I didn't say that I didn't care Granger. I said that I didn't give a damn."

She frowned in confusion. "Is there a difference?"

"Is the sun hot?" he replied instead, his tone was bland but laden with something that she couldn't pinpoint.

"Yes," she answered, taking a step towards him.

"Well there you go, Granger," he mocked applause. His stormy grey eyes looked deeply into her brown ones; his angular facial features seemed ghostly against the wintry surroundings as he said, "For once today, you're right. Now if you don't mind, I'm sure I have better things to do than to wait for you to grow up," he looked at her pointedly and started back to the castle.

Hermione was left isolated with nothing but snow to keep her company.

* * *

"Hey Sumire, wait up!"

Sumire turned around and winced but resignedly waited until the little Gryffindor caught up before continuing her own way. Her sharp green eyes darted to her left and she eyed her companion warily. "What do you want, Sakura? Come to rub the fact that your boyfriend is Natsume Hyuuga?"

Mikan frowned and then smiled. "Nah. You know I'd never do something like that. I like keeping my private life personal. I hope you're not mad about the scene at the Great Hall. It was either that or hiding from everyone like I've committed some kind of a felony or something. The last thing I'd want is to feel like I have to hide another thing from everyone."

Sumire caught the word _another_ but didn't bother bringing it up. Not when the brunette was practically _glowing_ with happiness. The thought made her shiver because the fact was, Mikan Sakura lived a fairytale life.

"What was it that you wanted then, Sakura?" she sighed.

The sly look on Mikan's face was enough to render anybody suspicious and instantly, her claws were out and her whiskers sprouted from her cheeks. "Spill," she hissed in a crouch.

Mikan rolled her eyes, eyeing the green haired girl with amusement. "What are you doing?"

"Just state your business and leave. I might support you and Natsume dating, but that's only because he's a good friend and he deserves to be happy," Sumire snapped. "But you're skating over thin ice, Sakura. Watch for the thickness before you hurtle into the frozen pond."

"Nice analogy, Shouda. Really, I'm touched that you care," Mikan replied blandly, fighting the smile from appearing on her face.

Sumire hissed.

"Come on, Permy. I mean, I admire your loyalty for Natsume and that you care about his happiness, but what about yours?"

"What about mine?" she bit out.

Mikan lifted her hands up in surrender. "All I'm saying is, you know that Koko likes you. I mean, he's been tagging along after you for a few days and maybe weeks… how long are you going to push him away because he's not in the same House as you?"

"That's not the problem, Sakura," Sumire sneered, standing up to full height. "I already told you that I support the fact that you and Natsume are dating. I'm not sure if you've noticed or not but you're from Gryffindor and he's from Slytherin. I'm okay with the Houses mixing."

"Then why aren't you making your move?"

Sumire's hands planted firmly on her hips, "Have you ever thought that maybe I don't like that little bugger?"

"Nope, never crossed my mind actually."

Sumire sniffed and turned her head away, a smirk on her lips. "Precisely." And then she snorted, "And they call you one of the smartest kids in school. Shows us how much they know," she huffed.

"No offence or anything but I'm not stupid either. He's just what you need, why can't you see that?" Mikan murmured softly.

"Maybe because I don't want to see anything that he has to offer."

Mikan eyed her angrily. "You know what? Sometimes I think that Koko is too good for you. You've always been this stuck up girl that thinks she's greater than everyone else and why? Who even knows anymore?" Her voice rose an octave higher as she clenched her fists. "You know, Koko seems to be the only person that has tried and succeeded to talk to you. Everyday, he comes up to me, glowing and saying that more progress has been made but what for? Why does he even try anymore?"

"Why don't you ask him that? Do I look like Koko to you?"

Shaking her head disbelieving, Mikan growled, "And you're playing the damsel in distress? Stop playing around, Sumire. Hurry up and grow up. Stop being ignorant. I know you like not being able to see the things that Koko has to offer but open your eyes a little or stay blind. It's your choice."

She shook her head again. "Seriously Permy, you say that no one listens to you… that everyone doesn't care and that you want to find someone that will do all of those things. You might not realize, Permy, but what you want is right under your nose." She opened her mouth to say something but thought better of it. Instead, she looked at the Slytherin girl one more time before turning on her heels and storming away.

Mikan shook her head. _I don't care, they can solve their own problems._

* * *

"You were lying," Natsume smirked, sitting on a leather couch from across the fireplace looking at the brunette on the floor.

She rolled her eyes. Her voice was indignant. "I was not!"

He rolled his eyes, watching the brunette carefully from her perch on the ground. "You never stop caring and if you didn't meddle, you wouldn't be Mikan Sakura."

"Hey! What is that supposed to mean?" she growled, slamming her hands on the floor, leaving her homework forgotten on the ground near the fireplace.

"Whatever you think it means," he drawled, resting his arms on the armrests of the leather sofa. His eyebrows rose, daring her to say something else but she just huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I don't care. Permy, _yes - your friend Permy_, can blind herself through life from now on and I won't even bat an eyelash."

"Right," he drew out the word, obviously disbelieving. "But you would do it for Koko."

She hissed.

_He had a point._

She glared at him before hanging her head low, falling into the fetal position. It was true, if not for Sumire Shouda, she'd meddle and try to play match maker if only for the sake of one of her greatest friends. After all, he had kept the secret of her Multi-Alices to himself for God knows how long. He was too great a friend not to meddle for. "You know me oh-too-well," she moaned. "I just wish that whatever has Sumire's mind tied up in knots would leave her alone."

He sighed at the lump on the ground and got up from his comfortable chair to sit on the carpeted ground beside her. He poked the lump that was his girlfriend.

It didn't budge.

"Relax, everything will work out," he replied smoothly, hoping to appease the girl on the ground. Her voice was muffled as she said, "You're relaxed enough for the both of us."

He ignored her and probed her shoulder one more time. When she didn't move, he put an arm underneath her knees and the other supported her back, pulling her smoothly onto his lap with a squeak of surprise on her part. He smirked down at her when he looked at her wide eyes. "Wow, you're stronger than I thought you'd be," she marvelled, probing his biceps curiously. He rolled his eyes and almost laughed at her awe.

"You might want to rethink that," he breathed, shifting her in his arms. "You're killing me."

She glared and smacked his arm. "I'm not that heavy, you jerk!"

"Beg to differ."

"You little arse! I thought you were supposed to be making or rather, _trying _to make me feel better, all you're doing is making me feel worse!" she snapped. "Now I'm going to be anorexic just for you, how does that make you feel, you insufferable jerk?"

She glared at him for a long time but he didn't say a word so she poked his cheek and he grimaced before turning away from her inquiring gaze. "Y-You…I… like you the way you are."

She smiled widely and he grimaced again. "I knew saying that would be a mistake. Now you're going to be all gooey."

"Who in the world says gooey?" she asked, smiling.

He rolled his beautiful eyes and resisted the urge to say something mean. "First, you wound my pride by making me say something disgustingly nice and now you're making fun of me?"

"Sounds about right, yes," she smiled, his eyes darkened as he scowled. "But I do feel better. That has to count for something, right?"

"Now, _I_ don't feel good," he muttered, looking at her smiling, innocent face.

Her brown eyes twinkled as she shifted in his lap. "Well, let's change that, shall we?"

She was just about to kiss him when there were three loud knocks on the common room door and Natsume groaned, gently rolling her off his lap and towards her homework.

"Come in!" Mikan yelled, laying flat on her back.

More knocks echoed and Natsume's eyes darkened. He was majorly pissed at whoever decided to interrupt one of their _moments_. He even said something so nauseatingly nice and what for? Not even a simple kiss?

"They can't come in without the password, idiot," Natsume sighed, getting the door.

Natsume shadowed the figure. "Who is it, Natsume?"

He turned his head with a dark, menacing scowl on his face, which surprised her. Taking a step to the side, the common room lights filtered out into the hallway to reveal Harry Potter.

Natsume turned back to look at him, a small smirk on his face, "The-Boy-Who-Just-Wouldn't-Die himself."

* * *

_My Hopeless Romantic_


	18. Demonic Demands

**Disclaimer: **All recognizable characters from Gakuen Alice belong to Tachibana Higuchi and characters from Harry Potter belong to J. K. Rowling. :) This Harry Alice is mine.

* * *

Pandemonium comes with strangers in masks.

**Chapter Seventeen: Demonic Demands  
**

-;-

The Great Harry Potter himself stood with a frown on his face, shuffling his feet back and forth along the cobbled stone entryway of their common room. With just the dim lighting of the room, the light filtered out onto his figure, showing his clenched fists and the light shade of pink that brushed across his cheeks and the tips of his ears.

She didn't know why but he looked really embarrassed and somewhat flustered and though she felt bad about it, Mikan couldn't help but hope that he had come to apologize or say _something_ about his behaviour earlier that morning. She jumped onto her feet and walked towards the door with a blank expression on her face. "Harry," she acknowledged, nodding her head in his direction, kicking Natsume discreetly in the shins.

Without so much as a wince, Natsume shrugged, leaning against the door, "Potter."

The boy didn't even seem to acknowledge Natsume's presence and instead, kept his gaze on Mikan, shuffling his feet back and forth, his shoes making the only noise. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked at him emotionlessly and for a while, all they did was stare at each other. No one said a word.

Natsume, annoyed with the silence and that he was being thoroughly _ignored_, decided to break it.

"Well? Did you have something to say or were you just going to stand there like a stupid little mute all day? My _girlfriend_ and I have better things to do than to watch you watch _us_."

"_Natsume,"_ she chided sharply, "Please don't start."

He grumbled something low under his breath, which sounded suspiciously like '_said something disgustingly nice and didn't get a kiss'_ and swore before turning around and walking back to his leather couch, staring sullenly into the fire with his back towards the two friends. Mikan tried not to smile at his thoughtfulness, if she could call his behaviour as such.

"So Harry, you wanted t—"

"Ron's going mad," Harry interrupted, shaking his head. "_Mad_ mad."

Natsume snorted from behind them and muttered, "He's always been a crazy bastard anyway, what's the big deal?"

"I don't know _how_ you can stand him," Harry muttered softly, shaking his head with a wry smile on his face. Mikan just about rolled her eyes as well but settled on glaring at him. Answering Natsume, Harry shrugged, "He's never been _crazy_ exactly. If you thought he was crazy before, he is downright insane now."

Harry shook his head and pressed his lips together in a thin line. "I heard him talking about rounding some people up and coming here. Not that I don't think you can handle him but he's mad beyond reason and I don't think he's scared about getting hurt."

Mikan scoffed and sat down with her back against the wall. "Honestly, Ron is taking this _way_ too seriously! He keeps talking about Voldemort being a sadistic asshole and now he turns his back and starts harping around just like the Dark Ass himself!"

Harry sighed and sat down with her, ignoring the sharp death glare he got from the handsome Hyuuga boy when he rested a hand on her knee. "You've got to understand, Mikan… this is something that will take some time getting used to. I mean, Voldemort's reign just ended a year ago and Ron, well - Ron still has hard feelings."

She remained quiet, looking at the rough hand on her knee and sighed. "But you're fine, aren't you? With this?"

He paused for a moment and scowled, roughly pushing a hand through his unruly black hair. "To tell you the truth, I'm still trying to wrap my mind around it all. I mean, I—" he gulped loudly and bit out, "—_fainted _when I heard. That has to tell you _something _about how I feel."

Mikan's stomach sunk and she pulled her knees closer to her body and Harry sighed. "Listen, I'm not going to lie when I say that I hate Hyuuga," he glared pointedly.

"Oh, trust me, Potter," Natsume drawled lazily, "The feeling is being reciprocated tenfold."

Ignoring the remark, Harry continued, "But Mikan, if you're happy, then I'm just going to have to deal. I'm sure Hyuuga isn't the asshole that I think he is," Harry said reassuringly. "Or, at least I hope not. I wouldn't want to have to blow him off the face of the planet like I did to Voldemort, hm?"

Mikan laughed and pushed their shoulders together, sighing. "Yeah, I didn't really—"

The faint sound of pounding feet alerted them of the presence of others, fast approaching and Harry whipped around to look down the corridor. "I think that might be Ron…"

Mikan shook her head frantically. "I swear, I've always known Ron was ill-tempered and incredibly whiny but I never pegged him for a sadistic ass! Natsume, what are we going to do?"

She turned around to find him speaking in low whispers with Malfoy, a grin blossoming on both of their faces.

Malfoy had stormed into the common room a few hours prior and at the moment, he was smirking with malice and his eyes were twinkling with anticipation. They both walked up to Harry and Mikan, leaning casually against each other with confident smirks on their faces as they both cracked their knuckles. Malfoy snorted the word _Weasley_ before he sneered, "I've been itching for a fight all damn year and this is just _too_ perfect."

The firelight flickered over his face, illuminating his glowing, pale face before he twirled his wand in his hands. "So when do we start? We're not going to just _stand_ here waiting for them to come trap us, are we?"

She turned back to look at Harry who had a worried look on his face as he wrinkled his nose. "I don't want to hurt Ron. I mean, he's just… confused, that's all. I'm not going to go fight him when he's been all I've had since we were ten."

"We're not going to fight him," she looked pointedly at Malfoy, before turning back to Harry. "There's not going to be any fighting if I have any say in this. Malfoy, if you want to fight someone that bad, go to the Whomping Willow with a baseball bat or something. That should do the trick."

He frowned. "What's a baseball bat?"

Mikan threw up her hands and placed them on her hips before glaring, "We're _not_ going to be fighting. _Especially_ not on school grounds! We're the Head students, Draco! We're supposed to keep the order in the school, not cause disorderly conduct, you _moron_."

Malfoy's face fell and his shoulders seemed to deflate with his growing disappointment. "You can't be serious. That's unfair!" He turned to Natsume and punched him lightly on the shoulder. "You promised me that we'd be able to pound those little freaks. You _lied_ to me?"

Natsume rolled his eyes, "I didn't_ lie_." He turned to look at Mikan and quirked his eyebrow seriously, "Why can't we beat them again?"

Mikan shook her head, disbelieving and Draco scoffed, crossing his arms. "Oh yeah. You didn't _lie_ to me, you just didn't tell the _truth_. Too bad you have such a self-righteous girlfriend, Natsume."

She slapped Natsume on the arm before sighing. "Can you just shut up?"

They both sobered up and froze when the sound of a crowd echoed off the walls of the corridors. There were distant shouts and the clattering of school shoes and the four of them looked at each other questionably, wondering how many of them there were.

Mikan narrowed her eyes.

"Does that sound like a bunch of little freaks that are going to just_ let_ you guys pound them?" Mikan hissed angrily. Turning to Harry, she looked at him, "You wouldn't happen to know how many plan on coming, do you?"

Harry shook his head, "This is _Ron, _Mikan. He's not going to be rounding up hundreds of people to take you down. He may be mad and slightly insane at the moment, but he's still Ron and he's just _not_ like that."

Mikan shook her head, listening to the sound getting louder and louder. "I know Ron! Or at least, I thought I did! And just listen to that yourself, Harry! Does that sound like a group of students coming to have a study party with us?" She stepped closer to Harry and started to pat down his robes with her hands, rustling the fabric, yanking the buttons apart to delve into the inside of his vest. All the while, her hands were patting down his clothes and diving into his pockets. "I'm sorry, under these circumstances, we'll have to use it, Harry."

Draco looked at them curiously and nudged Natsume with his elbow. "Hey mate, I think your girlfriend is feeling up our arch nemesis but I don't know, maybe that's just me."

"What are you doing?" Natsume clenched his fists tightly and his voice was deep and dangerous. Mikan didn't even bat an eyelash, shoving her hand in Harry's pockets while Harry just smirked at the two Slytherins. "I'm looking for the map, genius, now be quiet! They'll hear you!"

"Unless you want to walk around with a face later on today, you'd better take that smirk off before I do something about it," Natsume growled with dark promises laced between his words.

"Aha!"

All three of them looked down at her as she extracted a folded up piece of parchment from the confines of Harry's mold-green sock with a triumphant smile on her face. Harry shot both of the Slytherins a look, "Mikan, I don't think it's safe to show that to them."

"Nonsense. They're on my team so that means they're on your team too," she promised. Natsume snorted and folded his arms over his chest without taking his eyes off of the piece of blank parchment that his girlfriend had just unfolded. Taking her wand, Mikan whispered, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

The map of Hogwarts appeared with a splash of ink and the two Slytherins found themselves inching closer to look at the map with renewed interest as they muttered low curses to display their surprise.

"Bloody hell!" Draco whistled with delight, yelling, "Hey, that's us!"

"No kidding, genius."

Harry rolled his eyes, before he too looked over Mikan's shoulder to get a closer look at the map and it didn't take a genius to see the cluster of red dots clogging the hallways as they quickly moved, their names ricocheting off each other because there were just so many of them.

Mikan stood up and took the Marauder's map with her. Putting on her jacket and tossing one to Natsume, she spoke quickly, "I think we'd better get out of here, there's more than sixty people on their way and I doubt four people can take them in our common room, no less."

She grabbed Natsume's hand and headed out of the room but Harry didn't move. "Harry, are you coming?"

He shook his head, "I don't know, Ron…"

"Bastard Weasley is completely insane!" Malfoy drawled.

Harry looked to the ground, "I can't do this to him. Just make sure to be safe, okay?"

"It's okay," she sighed, tilting his chin up to send him a look of understanding. She kissed him lightly on the cheek, "Thank you."

She turned around and grabbed Natsume's hand, running quickly down the hall and away from the approaching crowd without turning back. Malfoy brought up the rear but both boys had smirks on their faces.

_Let the games begin._

* * *

"This was not what I was expecting," Koko muttered, running faster than he had run in his life. By the looks, or rather thoughts of some of his fellow school mates, there was going to be a fight, and it was bound to get ugly. He didn't know where Mikan was headed but he knew that he had to get some people that were willing to help her. Teachers were out of the question and there was no doubt in his mind that they'd lose if there were only a dozen of them.

He slowed to a stop at the dungeons and the Slytherin common room and silently congratulated himself for having been born with such an awesome Alice. Finding the password and the location of the Slytherin's headquarters had been just too easy. He snickered the password and the door swung open to reveal a living room filled with greens and silvers. Heads turned and eyes narrowed at him and yet, he couldn't help but grin at the look of surprise on their faces.

"What the hell does he want?"

Loud jeers followed the comment and he smiled goofily at the Slytherins from within their common room and gave a small wave in greeting. "Hello!"

A little second year Slytherin blanched at the sight of his smile and stumbled away from the door, promptly vomiting into a potted plant by the stairs. The yells of indignation and the cause of the sickness of one of their own launched a round of yells and even a few hexes in his direction but Koko merely smiled and looked around, once he had stepped into their territory. He would've gone straight to the point and asked for some back up but there was a rush of green and he was roughly pushed out the door of the common room and shoved none too gently into the stone wall behind him. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Do you have a death wish or something?"

He cracked an eye open and his face split into a wide grin. "Su-mire!"

She growled, low in her throat, annoyance colouring her cheeks as she pushed him further into the wall by the collar of his shirt. "Don't call me anything other than by my surname, you stupid little moron," she hissed, letting him go with another sharp shove into the wall.

"Enough of that, Mikan needs our help!" he shouted enthusiastically, pulling on her arm. She yanked it out of his grasp, narrowing her eyes, "And that has to do with me, how?"

He rolled his eyes. "If Mikan is involved, Natsume is involved. If Natsume is involved, Malfoy is involved. If Malfoy and Natsume are involved, you're involved. Now, come on!"

Sumire looked at him, muttered something low under her breath and asked, "What kind of trouble are they in? I have a fleeting suspicion that this has something to do with that bastard Weasley… "

He smiled, revelling in her apparent defeat. "Yee-up!"

She shook her head and told him wryly, "You have guts, Yome. Never and I'm saying,_ never_ knock on the Slytherin common room doors ever again. If I wasn't there, you'd have been beaten, castrated and then killed. I'm not kidding either."

He looked into her dark green eyes and took in the pale skin that was illuminated by the flickering torches that lined the hallways before he smiled cheekily, "I knew you cared about me!"

She snorted an _As if!_ and walked back towards the common room and Koko wondered if he'd said the right thing at the wrong time. She shook her head, turned around and glared at him before whispering the password and swinging the door open. Just as he was about to turn around and look for some more help, he heard her.

"Listen up! Natsume and Draco are in trouble! That stupid _Weasley _is planning a cowardly _surprise_ attack on them!" she snorted. "Figures, the only way _he_ could possibly win is if he _Avadas_ somebody from behind." She had said something else too that warranted a loud round of yells and soon enough, she was out with a satisfied grin on her face. Taking his arm, she asked, "Well? Where do we go from here?"

Koko smiled and couldn't help but think that her words had a double meaning. That or he was a hopeful fool, again.

* * *

"Harry, what is going on?"

"There were too many of them, I couldn't do a damn thing!"

Hermione looked around frantically at their dishevelled common room, as a bunch of students ran from the room. The furniture was ripped to shreds, there were scorch marks on the walls and bits of wood and crispy ends of paper scattered all over the floor. Everything was an absolute mess. She noticed all of their doors open wide and she rounded on the great Harry Potter with dangerous eyes.

"You let them go into our rooms? Are you crazy? We have personal things in there Harry-_freakin'_-Potter, and you just let them go in there and tear everything to shreds? How_ could_ you? Were you afraid to get your already scarred face _hurt_ or something?"

She ran into the room and shooed everyone away, sending a few hexes along with them. By the time she saw the full extent done to her room, she all but shrieked and ran from it, muttering a few dark promises under her breath.

"Hermione, wait!"

She shook her head, disbelieving and rounded on him, probing him hard in the shoulder once he had caught up to her. "Wait for what, Harry-_stinkin'_-Potter? For you to grow up? Why didn't you just think for yourself for once? This always happens! Always! Ron gets upset with us and you side with him, it's always been this way. Even when you know that he's wrong, you stay with him because _we've been brothers since we were ten_!" Her imitation of him was impressive.

She was right.

"Harry, for an awfully famous boy that brought the demise of Lord Voldemort," she glared at him with narrowed eyes, "You are such a coward."

* * *

They huffed onto the field and finally stood, just the three of them against more than twenty other students, more arriving each time. Ron panted, his fists still clenched tightly and his red face went well with his heavy breathing.

"I told you there were more people that saw it my way," he sneered, gesturing to the growing crowd behind him. "You should've never fallen for him, Mikan. It would've been better, _easier_ this way. Nothing good comes from being the good, self righteous girl."

She heard Malfoy mutter something that sounded like _I told you_ but she rolled her eyes, "Shut up, Ron."

He shook his head and laughed humourlessly, "Do you_ think_ I want to go against one of my own? I don't," he assured her, "—but don't you see? Don't you see what you've done? Now it's good ol' Ron that has to come and clean up your mess."

"Ron, you're crazy. You're acting like a madman."

"No!" he shook his head, twirling his wand with his left hand. "You see, I'm far from crazy. Perfectly sane actually. It's you that's gone crazy, siding with the enemy," he nodded towards Draco and Natsume, sneering.

"The war is over Ron, those that sided with Voldemort were sent to Azkaban and to prison, no one here is an enemy." She looked at him with narrowed eyes, her hand quickly clenching the oak of her wand deep in her pockets, "Though I'm not too sure about you anymore."

He laughed, tipped his head back and laughed loudly, his eyes wild, "I'm the enemy? You've got to be _kidding_ me! Voldemort was a _Slytherin_. He tortured and he killed _**every single day**_ of his return. I don't care if Slytherins live or die to be frank, but I can't handle knowing that one of my own has decided to fall for the likes of Hyuuga. And Malfoy;_ Malfoy_!" He shook his head, his ears turning red.

"Can you believe that our dear _Hermione_ has been falling for_ that_?" he spat. "Every time I turn around, she's looking at him and then _you two_ make a big show during breakfast time and how am I supposed to feel about this?"

Mikan shook her head, her brown locks billowing with the wind as she looked at Ron, her heart wrenching. "Ron, you're misguided. Just because one Slytherin killed and tortured everyday, that doesn't mean that every Slytherin does."

"Misguided? I'll tell you what is misguiding about all of this! What I find so confusing is how you could have ever fallen for someone like him," he pointed his wand at Natsume and laughed. "He's an arrogant, pain in the arse, cares about no one but himself and has to be the stupidest Slytherin of them all. He made fun of us when we were little, Mikan, don't you remember any of that when you decided to snog the hell out of him? Did you? Don't you remember all of the times Malfoy has called Hermione a _Mudblood_? Or has your big brain finally turned its back on you? I never thought you'd fall for his playboy charms but I guess even _**I **_can be wrong."

From the corner of her eyes, she could see more people coming. The Slytherins from Ron's side heard what he had said and looked absolutely murderous, turning around and walking away from the imminent battle or following Hermione and Sumire onto her side. It was still hardly a fair fight. People that she'd known since she was ten; the Patil twins, Mochu and so many others from Alice Academy and Hogwarts were all converged on Ron's side with stony expressions on their faces.

But then again, the majority of the Slytherins led by Sumire and the majority of the Hufflepuffs were all following Hermione. Her loyal friends from both Gryffindor like Aoi and those from Ravenclaw like Hotaru and Otanashi were all coming over and lining up behind Natsume.

Maybe there was hope for them after all. She shook her head - maybe it wouldn't come to fighting, maybe if she could calm him down a little bit and maybe if she could just make him _see_ that not all Slytherins were bad, maybe they'd all walk out of this place without a single curse being thrown. She narrowed her eyes at the look of disgust on Ron's red face and couldn't help but think maybe this was all wishful thinking.

"Ron, stop saying things you are going to regret—"

He cut her off with a loud, boisterous laugh that startled many and twirled his wand around again, waving it around like a maniac. "Oh, I'm not going to regret one single thing. For every single damn thing that the Slytherins have done to me and my family," he smiled demonically, "—they're finally going to_ pay."_

* * *

_My Hopeless Romantic  
_


	19. Sobering Surprises

**Disclaimer: **All recognizable characters from Gakuen Alice belong to Tachibana Higuchi and characters from Harry Potter belong to J. K. Rowling. :) This Harry Alice is mine.

* * *

Pandemonium comes with strangers in masks.

**Chapter Eighteen: Sobering Surprises  
**

-;-

Ron was smiling crazily; the wand in his hand kept jerking and twitching as if it was ready to curse a million people.

Mikan was scared.

Not so much about the fight that would ensue in a moment's notice, but about the amount of damage that it would cause. How many people would be injured in this fight? She didn't know, but one thing was for certain… Ron looked fit enough to start blasting random people off the face of the planet from the way he was smirking.

Never in all her educated years in Hogwarts did she think Ron would do this… that their friendship would come to this.

"You see, Mikan… I've been waiting a long time for this chance, an _excuse_ for a fight like this. And it's all thanks to you, ol' buddy, ol' pal," he smiled warmly. And if he wasn't going to start up a fight to end all fights, she would've smiled in return.

How had he changed so much?

"It's all thanks to you," he repeated in a hollow voice.

She took a cautious step forward. "Ron, look. I'm sorry if I hurt you, alright? But I can't help who I like or dislike," she exasperated. "Look at the situation in my shoes. What would you do if the person that you… _liked_ was in a different House? Does it make a difference if Natsume was in Hufflepuff?"

Malfoy bust a gut laughing and Natsume fought the protest that sprang from his lips. Mikan silenced them both with a sound glare. Turning back to Ron, she continued, "So you'd be okay if I dated Natsume if he was in _Ravenclaw_? Or does this have to do with who he is as a person? Because frankly, I'm starting to think that you're doing all of this," she gestured to the crowded field, "—because you don't like him. Not because of what House he's in."

Ron frowned. "Both. This has _everything_ to do with Houses! Because he was put in Slytherin, he's bullied us everyday. But it takes more than the House to make the person. Your _boyfriend _was born evil."

"Your logic makes no damn sense, Ron!"

He sneered mockingly. "Figures a person like you wouldn't understand."

He tapped the end of his wand to his temple, _"Revenge is sweet."_

A scream cut through the thick atmosphere like a bolt of lightening before the fight began with flashes of red, blue and yellow at all directions. Students toppled over and grabbed at their faces and others struggled to hide behind their peers in hopes of fleeing the scene unscathed. Ron was laughing like a mad man; pointing his wand at random and shooting off curse after curse, laughing manically as he did. Mikan breathed a sigh of relief when he only used simple ones and not something dangerous.

At her side, grinning widely was Koko. "Well, it's not like he knows any of the complex curses, now does he? Thank God for that!"

She would've actually smiled, if Ron's side wasn't so bent on injuring her friends. From the corner of her eyes, she saw members of her side fall and she cringed. She couldn't help but notice that Ron's side seemed so empty-eyed and expressionless.

"Natsume! We have to stop this! Look at them! They don't know what the hell they're doing!"

She watched as Natsume merely darted a bored glance around the expanse of the Quidditch field, turning back to face her and shrugging his shoulders. "They wouldn't fight if they didn't want to and it's beyond our control. What are we going to do, just yell stop and hope they'll listen?"

Malfoy scoffed, quickly dodging a stumbling third year that fell to his knees and retched all over the ground. The both of them discreetly shifted a few feet away.

"Well we've got to try something!" Mikan screeched, nullifying the three of them in a tight ball. "Look, I know Ron's acting unreasonable, but is this how you envisioned the fight? You're not even doing anything!"

A speculative eyebrow rose and Malfoy smirked, "Are you saying you want us to beat the crap out of them? Because I will if you want me to," he commented lightly, wiggling his eyebrows.

"I didn't want this in the first place, Malfoy!" Mikan gritted out between clenched teeth. "There is way too much drama in this place! If I'd known this would happen, I'd never have gone into the Great Hall in the first place!"

"It would've happened sooner or later," Natsume said lightly, turning his head away. "It's not like we'd be hiding for long and when Weasley would've found out, he'd have solved it the same way as he is now." He turned to look at her with a large smirk on his face, "Though I have to admit, you put on a bold show for them to watch. I planned to start small, like holding hands but you just went all out."

She blushed, "Shut up! I thought it'd be more effective and I didn't plan that out! I was just so nervous and the next thing I know…"

"That doesn't make the case any better!" Hermione declared, stumbling into their circle. "Why are you all standing around doing nothing?" she asked angrily. "This is getting out of control!"

"Thank God somebody agrees!" Mikan threw up her hands. "Where's Hotaru and Ruka?"

"Look up," Natsume drawled, rolling his neck and looking up at the sky. "They're watching in the air?" Draco asked, disbelieving. "Unbelievable cretins!"

Mikan scoffed, surveying the grounds. "It's not like you're doing much either, Malfoy. Now shut up, I'm trying to figure out a way to stop this fight. There must be a way that we can separate everyone or at least stop them from cursing each other into oblivion!"

"You can't," Draco persisted with a handsome scowl on his face. He wrinkled his nose at the scene and felt a stirring in his stomach. "No matter how much we'd want this all to stop, we're too far gone. It's beyond repair now."

Natsume shifted his feet uncomfortably and his actions made all three of them look at the raven haired boy. He scowled darkly and his eyes hardened. "What are you looking at?" he snarled, crossing his arms.

"Whoa, nothing!" Draco put his hands up in truce and rolled his eyes. "I know when something's on your mind and you have something. You're just not telling us about it."

"Shut up."

Mikan blinked and looked up at him with hopeful eyes. "Natsume, what? What is it? You have a plan?"

"It's nothing," he growled, turning to walk out of their safety bubble. He'd gone a fair distance before he was more acutely aware to the ongoing mass before him. Why had he been stupid enough to move away from his safety net? Figures the moment he walked out, he'd be their number one target.

He cursed under his breath and engulfed the exterior of his body in fire, trying to intimidate the other side. However, he wasn't stupid enough to think that his fire could deflect all of the curses that were flying at him.

Just when the thought crossed his mind, Natsume felt the wind get knocked out of him as he was thrown backwards, his back hitting the ground. He had to gasp a few breaths before his brain began functioning.

"You stupid, stupid pyro!"

Someone was pounding his chest. It didn't hurt, by all means. It was just a tad annoying after a while… especially when there was this odd ringing in his head and a weight on his chest.

"Serves him right for jumping into battle without being ready."

_Imai._

Natsume groaned and felt another slap on his chest. "You two bit, annoying fart!" he recognized Mikan's voice. "If it weren't for me, your brains would be all over the place for the crows to eat!"

"Y-You …" he gasped another breath and with a curse from Mikan, he felt the weight on his chest lightening. "You tackled me?"

"It was the only way! You were going to be hit anyway!"

"You tackled me? What the hell, Polka Dots!" he growled, managing to open his eyes. He tried to glare at her but she merely shrugged her shoulders.

"You walking out on me before answering my question could've been another factor…"

He half groaned, half growled at her and put his head against the cool grass. "We've got to get out of here," he hissed. "This is insane."

"We can't just leave this like it is to make a fast getaway! Do you know just how many people are injured here?" He knew she looked horrified and offended by the sharp edge of her voice. "Natsume," she shook his shoulder, her voice sad, "I know you have an idea. If it'll help, tell me!" He tried to shake his head. "Please, Natsume? Please?"

"You won't like it."

Mikan frowned, "Tell me!"

"Bend down." Mikan followed his instruction and put her ear near his lips, waiting for him to tell her. "Are you sure you don't want to just back out?" he asked again.

"Of course, I am!"

He took a deep breath, looking her in the eyes, before he murmured softly. "Your Alices."

She recoiled and blinked at him in shock and Natsume hated the look of despair on her face. This was why he didn't want to bring up his idea! She'd spent four years trying to hide the fact that she'd inherited her mother's alice and in this one moment, his only idea was to expose all of it. Because she could stop this battle. She knew she could. But was it worth all of the hard work she'd had to exert, trying to hide it all?

"That was your idea, Natsume?" she asked softly, folding her hands in her lap. "That was your idea?"

He refused to look in her eyes but merely thinned his lips. "It was either that or get the teachers involved."

"Don't you know how hard it was to hide it for four years!" she hissed quietly, clenching her fists into tight balls and confirming Natsume's thoughts. "How am I supposed to just come right out and use them without everyone figuring it out?"

"I meant you should finally show them what you're made of," Natsume shrugged, sitting up and resting on his hands. "The school year is almost up, don't you want to spend it without having to hide? What's the point in graduating with your friends when most of them don't even know who you really are?"

Mikan's eyes darkened and her knuckles strained, "Oh, because your friends know _**all**_ about how your Alice is going to kill you one day," she snapped sarcastically.

Natsume's frown deepened and the planes of his face hardened instantly. "This has _nothing_ to do with me and you know it."

Mikan sat back and looked away, refusing to apologize, even when she knew she'd overreacted. "What you're asking of me is absolutely _insane_. How are they going to react when they see it, huh?"

"Does it matter what they think?" he replied coolly. "I thought you told everyone that matters about your Alices already, anyway. Don't tell me that after the whole display from this morning, you're still actually afraid of what everyone thinks of you. How much worse could it get after _this_?" He nodded his head to the area around them and Mikan's eyes darted about before once again resting on Natsume.

"After this, I don't think _anything_ is predictable anymore," she murmured softly, her eyes resting on his. "I know this is just a suggestion but is it really the only way?"

"It was the only thing I could come up with. Besides, isn't taking risks and fighting for the greater good what Gryffindors are known for?" he asked blandly, almost mocking. He was frowning and Mikan could tell he didn't want to be saying all of these _mushy_ things. She could almost laugh at him if she wasn't so terrified and downright annoyed.

"How many times do I have to say this? We are _far_ more than what our Houses dictate. Just because I'm in Gryffindor, doesn't mean I'm some self-righteous girl that will always do the right thing!" Mikan snapped, crossing her arms over her chest.

"But you are," Natsume pointed out, without wincing when Mikan slapped his arm. "But then again, you _are_ bossy, whiny and incredibly stupid too, so maybe you're right. You _are_ something more."

Mikan rolled her eyes and resisted the smile that was tugging at her lips. "You're supposed to be trying to convince me to stop the battle by using my Alices, you know. Instead, you're trying to sweet talk me by saying sappy things."

He almost looked horrified when she said "sappy" but saw the grin on her face and knew she was kidding. "I don't think I have to convince you to do anything," he replied instead, accepting the hand that Hotaru offered him. He quirked an eyebrow and his lips took the form of a handsome smirk, "Usually, you're good at figuring out what's right by yourself. I mean, you chose me, didn't you?"

She rolled her eyes. "You arrogant jerk - I'll show _you _who you're messing with."

She got to her feet and dusted off her skirt before surveying the scene around her, squeezing the hand that intertwined with hers. "This is just madness," she grumbled frostily, cracking her knuckles and rolling her shoulders.

Natsume snorted at her actions and she darted him a quelling glare before closing her eyes.

_"Let's nullify this place."_

Hotaru flew her duck scooter in the air once more and in an instant, Natsume blinked when his hand met cool wind. She was kneeling in the dirt, her fingers fisting the grass and her hands dirtying in the wet earth, waiting. It didn't take him long to know why because from the middle of the field, the ground was opening up and a thick wall of sand was piling its way on top of each other, shooting upwards to isolate one side from the other. Before long, a huge, long wall of hardened sand was separating the two sides and further movements from either side stopped to see just what the hell was going on.

She whipped her head around and smirked at Natsume with dancing brown eyes. "Hey Natsume?" Her eyes glowed with mischief. "_Watch_."

And with a touch of her finger to the wall of sand, a bright light took form and the sand fell apart to reveal a thick, shiny piece of glass, the mirrored faces of the shocked students on the other side made a giggle erupt from Mikan's lips. From beside him, Koko laughed and Natsume realized he shouldn't have thought she looked beautiful just then.

_But that was so fucking hot._

"She's finally doing it, eh?" he grinned from ear to ear, darting Natsume a glance. "Hotaru and I have been trying to get her to stop hiding for _years_!"

"Yeah," Natsume looked up at her with curious eyes. "I guess she needed a shove in the right direction."

In moments the battle field was in an uproar. Alices cursed when their Alices refused to obey and everyone else, even those that were just watching on the bleachers had their fists in the air when their wands flew from their hands and into a special bag Hotaru was holding on to, curtesy of Mikan's Alices in which she was obviously flaunting now that she was _sitting_ on the wall of glass.

"Show off," Natsume mumbled softly, his eyes following her every move as her feet swung from on top of the wall. He swore he could see her body teetering off the edge at any moment but with another laugh from Koko, he figured he was probably just going mad. "At first, she was saying how much she didn't want to show them her Alices and now, she's just showing off," he grumbled.

Mikan appeared in front of him with her hands on her hips and her eyes alight, "Well, I figured if I was going to throw caution to the wind, I might as well go out with a bang! There's no point holding back now!"

Formerly innocent grey clouds were pouring with condensation and soon, everybody was soaking wet, trying in vain to get under some sort of cover. By this time, some had already figured out that Mikan was the cause of it.

"What the hell is happening?" Ron bellowed angrily. "Mikan, what the hell are you doing with your Alices!"

She glared at him, "I am _not_ going to let you just get up and blow everybody into smithereens just because you feel like it! Look - even Hermione is breaking her back trying to fix whatever it is that you're doing!"

She pointed at Hermione's head of bushy hair trying to get rid of a charm on some kid that was howling in pain, slapping his hands all over his face. His fingers were clawing at the soft flesh of his visage and blood was already oozing from the open wounds. Mikan narrowed her eyes at the look of triumph on Ron's face.

Mikan stomped her foot and crossed her arms, "Good God, Ron. When a normal person has a tantrum, they sulk or yell. They don't do bodily damage to other people. Why don't you try being _normal_ for once? You insolent little—"

"This isn't a childish tantrum! This is something that I have to do so that I can finally move on! Do you know how _hard _it is to go through life having to look at _him_—" he nodded in Malfoy's direction, "—everyday knowing that his father could've been the Death Eater to _kill_ Fred? The one that maimed Charlie so bad that he can never have children even if he wanted to? To know that _his father_ could've been the one that blew off George's ear and killed Tonks and Lupin?"

He stopped and looked at Mikan's astounded expression and pressed on before he lost it. "There were so many people that _died_ by Slytherin hands! So many people that we know, Mikan. You might've been able to move on quickly with your life but you didn't lose anybody in the war!"

He poked himself in the chest, "I did. I did and it hurts so damn much having to see George every holiday and every summer. We don't laugh like we used to, _he_ doesn't laugh as much as he used to. Not when Fred is gone. Charlie and his girlfriend will never be as happy as they could be without the child that they'd been wishing to have and what about Teddy? Did you ever stop to think about Teddy and what he might have to go through without Tonks and Lupin to be there to watch him take his first steps? To see him off on the Hogwarts Express for the first time? To share his first birthday with them and to give him his first broom lesson? What about his graduation or his wedding day? Teddy will never have memories of his parents because of _them_. Those damn Slytherins ruin _everything._"

Ron was shaking. He was shaking so hard that his knees crumpled to the ground and finally, Mikan understood. She finally understood everything.

Everyone was listening to what Ron had to say. Even Malfoy had dropped the Ravenclaw that he'd been holding. Well—he'd actually just punched the kid in the face but that was besides the point. The point was that people had stopped and listened to Ron's speech and though many on Mikan's side still did not agree with his logic that all Slytherins had to be punished or exterminated—they couldn't help but sympathize for the broken boy before them.

Mikan truly did sympathize with him and as she looked around at all of the people behind Ron, she couldn't help but feel guilty. She should've seen it sooner. Every single person on Ron's side had lost somebody in the war. The Patil twins had lost both of their parents and older brother and she recognized more losses when she looked at each face that came up to pat Ron stiffly on the back.

Brothers, sisters, parents and other relatives. The people on Ron's side had lost these people and had not been able to move on. Mikan knew that they didn't want pity but she couldn't help but pity them. She could not empathize with them, nor could she tell them that they were right because the truth was, they weren't.

"You're still wrong."

Mikan was startled because never in her life would she have thought that Harry Potter would be the one to stand up to his best friend to side with her. Ron blanched and struggled to his feet, slapping the comforting hands away from him. "Not you too! Why is everyone against me?"

Harry shook his head, "Ron, I'm not against you. It's just that you're wrong. How you're grieving, now that's wrong."

"Don't you dare tell me what to do, Harry," he snarled. "Don't you _dare._"

Harry could only shake his head ruefully and look at Ron with an expression akin to pity and sympathy. His green eyes seemed resigned and tired—wary of the tense atmosphere that he'd been exposed to. He couldn't help but think that even after the war, Voldemort managed to control the lives of others, feed fear and revenge to people even in the dead.

"Have you forgotten about Pothead's godfather? Sirius Black? Wasn't he part of a Slytherin family as well as my cousin Tonks?" Malfoy drawled, walking up to Ron with an indifferent expression on his face. "You say that all Slytherins are bad but there are handfuls that have as much humanity as the rest of us."

Ron blanched, his ears draining of colour as he mustered enough strength to grip his wand and glare with pure hatred at Malfoy who managed to remain cool and collected—amused even.

"And who are you to pass judgement on whose evil and who isn't? Who gave you the right to decide all of this?" Natsume sneered, stepping in. "I don't really care what you think about me or what you want to do to me but you are being a damn hypocrite. You have the exact same views as _him_ and you are a stupid plebeian if you think otherwise—"

Ignored, Natsume glared at him and watched as the blood in Ron's face resurfaced and he sputtered for a smart response.

"Don't you see, Ron?" Hermione asked, throwing her hands up in the air in defeat. "It's okay to grieve for Fred and Tonks and Lupin. But to want to kill a group of people by stereotyping them is wrong. Not everybody is a Death Eater and not every Slytherin wants to kill or intentionally want to hurt people. You can't just judge them like that," she looked at Malfoy from the corner of her eyes and quickly looked away. It was like they were having a hidden conversation with each other that only they could understand.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Harry whispered, interrupting her from her thoughts.

Ron glared at them and ignored Harry's question. He looked at every face that he could and rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. It's so easy to say that I grieve in the wrong way, that I should give these people a chance but it's hard. You guys are asking me to walk around and pretend to be blind. You guys are asking me to live with people that I believe are potential killers. I'll tell you now, it's impossible. You're expecting a deaf person to be able to hear you from across an ocean and you're expecting a blind person to be able to see a billboard that is five thousand miles away. It's impossible—and you guys are insane if you think that I'm going to just sit back and watch as they try to rule over us!"

Ron breathed hard and glared at them with narrowed eyes with his last words lingering in the air.

Black hair falling serenely over his eyes, Natsume walked coolly over to where Ron stood and could only raise a thoughtful eyebrow at the defensive stance that he took. Rolling his eyes, Natsume took him by the shoulder and easily punched him square in the face. The sound of Ron crumpling to the ground was oddly satisfying. It didn't matter that Mikan was glaring at him like he was Satan himself and it didn't matter that there were tons of people that were fighting to restrain themselves from cursing him into oblivion. What mattered was the feeling of exhilaration when his fist had made contact with Ron's face and the slap of congratulations that Malfoy had just given him.

Ron's eyes were bloodshot as he looked up at him. "_You! _You are the reason—"

Natsume, unfazed with the attention that he was getting, took out a pocket knife and quickly cut his palm open and watched with avid attention as the blood quickly started to surface, marring his beautiful slightly tanned skin. Everyone turned to watch him curiously.

"You see this, Weasley?" he asked, walking closer. He bent his knees and practically shoved his hand in Ron's face. "This is blood."

He heard a few snickers from his fatherly tone. It sounded like he was trying to explain something to a toddler. He shrugged and came back to the problem at hand. Disgusted with himself, Natsume lifted a finger and wiped up a drop of blood collecting at Ron's chin and compared the two. "Look. You have blood, I have blood. We spill in the same way and we die in the same way. We are both human and we are just ordinary people. What is it that truly makes you and I different other than the fact that I'm cooler than you are?"

Mikan's hand made contact with Malfoy's head unconsciously and she muttered an apology before doing the same to Natsume. He could only scowl at her before he turned back to Ron's appalled features. "Well? What makes you so different than me? Or Malfoy for that matter?"

Ron's gaze hardened. "You didn't have anybody close to you die!"

With a wave of his hand, Natsume said, "My parents were long dead before the war so that hardly clears your point, what else do you have?"

"You are an arrogant bastard."

Natsume almost looked bored, "That's a matter of opinion. I could say that you are an arrogant son of a bitch because you think that Gryffindors are better than Slytherin. What else?"

"You don't care about anybody other than yourself," Ron supplied, grasping at straws.

Natsume outright scoffed and countered, "Obviously I care about my friends and _her_—" he pointed at Mikan, "—or else I wouldn't have bothered to waste my time with all of this we've been doing for the past hour or two. That and right now, it's you that seems to be thinking about himself rather than the people that you allegedly care about."

Ron scowled at him and Natsume continued to look aloof. "What else, Weasley? We've already established that we've both lost important family, that we are both arrogant in our own way and that I _do_ care for people other than myself. What makes us different?"

Harry came up and put a hand on Ron's shoulder. "Nothing, Ron. And you know that I hate agreeing or conceding to anything that Hyuuga or Malfoy have to say more than the next person but they're telling the truth."

Ron growled something that sounded like _I still want to curse that bloody smirk off of his face and gouge his eyes out_ but he conceded. He didn't voice out an apology for his actions, nor did he make a move to acknowledge anybody that looked at him with concerned eyes. He didn't need to. He couldn't find an appropriate comeback or a witty remark against what Natsume had said and when all of it was said and done, everyone had judged the other a little too quickly.

"Let's get out of here. I think we're done for the day," Harry suggested, leading a red faced Ron away from the crowd.

"Forever hopefully," Mikan muttered under her breath, taking Natsume's hand and quickly passing her hand over the wound. It healed instantly and there was barely a trace of a scar left.

"Leave the scar there," he murmured softly so that only she could hear.

She traced it thoughtfully, "I knew you had a thing for scars. First it was Harry's and now this? What are you doing—trying to steal Harry's thunder?" she laughed and he scowled. "Sorry but I don't think your scar will be as famous as Harry's."

Natsume scoffed and said, "Like hell I would. I'd never want to look like that freakin' idiot. He's a stupid, arrogant, attention seeking, bigoted, large footed bastard."

Defensive, "Harry doesn't have large fee—hey! How would _you_ know?"

He grunted something and turned his head away.

Without a second thought, she ran after Ron and healed his broken nose with the wave of her hand and he watched transfixed and winced as the sound of his nose cracked back into place. He nodded his head at her and mumbled a silent thanks, not even bothering to ask her how she had done it.

"That was a nice thing that you did for Ron," Mikan murmured as she clutched onto Natsume's arm, shooing the students away from the Quidditch pitch.

Natsume shrugged, "It was a win-win situation. I got to hit him in the face hard and you're not mad." He glanced over his shoulder and smirked a little, "Well, I guess you could say we're not the only ones that won."

She glanced behind her and saw Malfoy and Hermione, bickering back and forth; Hermione was resorting to violence while Malfoy just took it with a smirk. She smiled knowingly and reached for his hand, fingering the tiny scar on the palm of his hand.

"Oh yeah?"

They walked in silence for a few minutes before another scream ripped the air. Both Mikan and Natsume turned back with half startled, half amused gazes on their faces. Natsume squeezed her hand and pulled her away from the little fight with a roll of his eyes.

"I don't think you should've taken all of their wands," he said to her pointedly. "Imai will probably try to sell them back for a price now."

She laughed and a large smile lit up her face. "Yeah, well. Hotaru should get to win today, too."

* * *

_My Hopeless Romantic_


	20. Fiery Finale

**Disclaimer: **All recognizable characters from Gakuen Alice belong to Tachibana Higuchi and characters from Harry Potter belong to J. K. Rowling. :) This Harry Alice is mine. Enjoy!

* * *

Pandemonium comes with strangers in masks.

**Chapter Nineteen: Fiery Finale  
**

-;-

Youichi walked into the Head's common room, grey locks immediately falling into his eyes when he turned his head to the figure sitting slumped in the armchair facing the fireplace. His stoic grey eyes scrutinized the lump and when it didn't move for quite some time, he stepped closer and asked cautiously, "Natsume-senpai?"

Natsume whipped the blanket off of his head and glared at the younger boy with annoyed, ruby eyes and decided to ignore the look of surprise on Youichi's face. "What?" he grated irritably, flinging the blanket onto the other couch, "Well?"

Youichi frowned and felt before he heard Draco's presence as he stepped into the room. The blond eyed his annoyed friend before the fireplace and patted Youichi roughly on the arm and said, "Don't bother with him, Hijiri. He's just sulking because he can't hold onto his girl for more than a month's time."

"Like you're doing any better," Natsume growled darkly, turning his gaze away from the fireplace to look at the two boys. "You like Granger and yet, you don't have the balls to ask her out."

Youichi snickered but Draco remained cool, "I'm not asking her out because I _don't _like her," he maintained smoothly, stuffing a hand into his pocket and sitting in the armchair across from Natsume. "And stop changing the subject. You're sulking in front of a fireplace for Christ's sake!"

"I'm not sulking," Natsume muttered stiffly, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'm brooding over the fact that Mikan Sakura is quite possibly the most annoying, prudish and unpredictable girl in this place."

"Only because she dumped you for no apparent reason last week and you still can't manage to get over her," Draco commented dryly, propping his legs on the coffee table. "What do you think, Youichi? Is Natsume pathetic or is he _pathetic_?"

Youichi shrugged uncommitted and sat down in front of the fire to look at both older boys. "You'll be back together before the Graduation Ball, anyway," Youichi piped in monotonously, looking pointedly at Natsume. "And Mikan-nee never dumps you without a reason."

Natsume glowered darkly from under dark black eyelashes and growled, "Don't think you understand, Youichi." He frowned handsomely, his dark eyebrows knitting in concentration before he muttered, "Women," under his breath.

"When did you start talking like this, Natsume?" Draco chided with a frown. "You're moping over—"

"She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named," Natsume interrupted, narrowing his eyes.

"She's not the new Voldemort, Natsume-senpai," Youichi admonished with a small grin on his face. "You're acting ridiculous."

Natsume slumped further into his seat and muttered something that sounded like _'stupid bastards'_ and promptly refused to speak until the doors opened and Mikan appeared with Hermione in tow. Their innocent chattered abruptly ceased when Mikan turned and glimpsed the dark glower that was on Natsume's face.

"Where've you been?" Natsume snapped through clenched teeth. "Entertaining your little fan-boys with those Alices of yours?"

It was true, Youichi thought. Once the others saw the extent of Mikan's Alices, the school was abuzz with news and words of her feats. The days following were crazy wherein boys from all Houses and years came up to her and asked to see what she was capable of. Natsume hadn't been too pleased with the development and Youichi could only grin at the memory.

"Not that it's any of your business," Mikan replied airily, taking her cloak off to leave her in her school uniform, "—but I was using my Alices to help with the Graduation Ball decorations." She quirked an eyebrow up at the three boys and narrowed her eyes at Natsume before scowling, "Since the others were so short on hands, I was called in to help. Speaking of which, where were _you_? I asked for your help and you didn't come…"

"He's been moping by the fireplace all day," Draco drawled. The change in his tone was evident since the girls had arrived and instead of the slightly concerned mien and voice, his demeanor had changed to one that was smooth and alluring.

"Shut _up_," Natsume muttered darkly, his position on the armchair was of a king on his throne. Ignoring the mention of his former pathetic state, Natsume sat up and draped both arms over the armrests, glowering at her. "You," he hissed, "— and I have to talk."

"Do we?" she asked with an eyebrow raised, "About what?"

He stood up and strode over casually, taking her arm in a gentle yet firm grip. At her glare, he said coolly, "About something that doesn't concern anyone else in this room. Now let's go."

He tugged at her arm and after scrutinizing him for another two seconds, she sighed and put her bag down by the couch. Crossing her arms and turning herself away from his body, Mikan clenched her teeth and breathed, "Fine. Where did you want to go, _your majesty_?"

"My room."

A wry smile made its way over Mikan's features before she laughed humourlessly, "Do you think I'm stupid or something? No! I'd sooner speak in Snape's office than go into your room!"

Natsume rolled his eyes and a smirk of arrogance and a flash of annoyance brightened his eyes before he shot back, "Fine. Off to Snape's then."

He could tell that there was a smirk of approval on Malfoy's face, not that he really cared. Mikan's wrist had gone slack in his grip and with a boyish grin, he turned to look at the look of surprise and apprehension that was shown _clearly_ on her face. It made a flare of pride swell in his stomach to know that he'd managed to catch her off her game.

For a smart girl, Natsume thought wickedly, his girlfriend _really _didn't know him very well. Natsume Hyuuga was not to be provoked and it was time she understood exactly _why _not.

With her wrist still firmly in hand, Natsume turned around and stared pointedly at Draco with his palm open and arm outstretched. Draco, who had been sitting beside Youichi with a far off expression on his face, started when a rough nudge to his arm made him look up to see Natsume silently demanding for Snape's keys. With a sigh, Draco sat up a bit to dig his hand into the back pocket of his black slacks in order to toss the key through the air and into his hand.

"You better not lose that," Draco warned in a low voice. "That's my only copy and Severus would _kill _me if he found out…"

Natsume nodded and wrenched the door of the common room open in order to drag his girlfriend by the arm, out the door. They hadn't gone but a few meters when Mikan wrenched her arm away in anger and whispered in a dangerous voice, "What are you _doing_?"

"I'm doing what you asked," Natsume rolled his eyes. "You agreed to talk in Snape's office and that's precisely where we're going."

"We can't just _break _into a teacher's office just to have a conversation! That's wrong! We could get in serious trouble if we were caught!" Mikan pointed out, looking at both ends of the hall to make sure no one was listening.

"You should've thought of that before making the suggestion," Natsume replied smoothly, taking her hand. "Now c'mon and stop being such a baby."

"I was just _kidding_ when I said we'd talk in Snape's office, Natsume! We can talk here!"

"No, I think Snape's will be much more… interesting," Natsume smirked, challenging Mikan to say otherwise with a slant of his eyebrow. Defiant and utterly _annoyed _brown eyes looked back at him and biting her lip just the slightest, Mikan turned with her nose in the air and stuffed her hands in her pockets.

"Fine, jerk. Lead the way."

Triumphantly, Natsume mirrored his girlfriend's move (he would _not _believe that she'd dumped him) and tucked both hands securely into his pant pockets, only then noticing that he hadn't brought his cloak, nor his jacket. Instead, he was wearing just a dark green silk button-up shirt and black slacks with a black tie dangling, barely tied, around his neck. A slow, mischievous smirk fell easily upon his lips before he stuck a hand out in front of Mikan and pushed her against the wall, effectively caging her with his arms in a rather deserted hallway near the dungeons.

"You're losing your touch, Natsume," Mikan drawled in a lilted voice. "I saw that coming. Now release me before I _force _you to."

"I'm just _shaking,"_ he rolled his eyes, a wry grin on his face. "And if you 'saw it coming', why didn't you dodge it?"

She folded her arms, shoving one of his hands away that kept inching closer to her waist before fixing a glare on her face. "I was curious as to what the _hell _you thought you were doing."

"No," red eyes twinkled with amusement, "—I'm sure you just missed the feeling of my arms around you." His voice was nonchalant, almost mocking and Mikan felt the impending heat that was making its way slowly up her neck and into her face.

Biting her lip in order to concentrate on pretending his hand _wasn't _warm and sensual on the small of her back, Mikan laughed wryly and snapped, "Dream on, Natsume. I'm sure it's _you _that misses _me_ in your arms."

She could feel his warm breath on her neck and the hand that wasn't on her back fall listlessly on her shoulder, the smoldering heat felt red hot in the chill of the Slytherin hallway. Like every other hallway, candles in their holders and little hallway torches lit the corridor with an eerie glow. The slightest flicker of wind made shadows dance all around the both of them and Mikan couldn't help the hitch of her breath when she looked up to find Natsume's face infinitesimally close to hers. The shock of red eyes glowed bright in the dark and the inconsistent flicker of the lit candles cast ethereal shadows over Natsume's features, accentuating his high cheekbones and the firm set of his jaw in order to mock her.

Sometimes she hated playing these games with Natsume.

The quick movement of his lips captured her gaze and she stilled when they curved into a devilish smile. She barely heard the echo as his feet stepped up closer to her body and only snapped out of her daze when he'd bent down by her ear to whisper, "I'm man enough not to deny it."

The simple whisper made her heart go into overdrive and she was seriously considering putting the whole plan behind her and kissing him so hard his head would spin. She'd been tiptoeing all week long in order to make sure she didn't run into him when she was by herself so that she _wouldn't _get herself caught in situations like these and for the most part, she had been successful. In other instances, she'd been able to get herself _out _of these situations by using her Alice to put some distance between them but now—_now_, she didn't even _want _to get away.

The guy was too damn irresistible for his own good.

She swallowed hard when his lips descended towards hers but snapping out of her thoughts, Mikan quickly turned her head and instantly felt soft lips press against her temple. He growled softly and held her hips tighter in his hands.

"_Natsume, leave me alone."_

Mikan held her breath and leaned away from him, almost totally up against the wall and only managed to exhale when she heard him growl dangerously low, the pressure on her hips disappearing altogether. The pressure on her heart, on the other hand, was pressing increasingly hard, which made it rather difficult to breathe.

Her moment of relief was short lived when he grabbed her wrist in a steel grip and practically dragged her down the hallway, stopping briefly in front of a solid door and pulling her inside.

"Snape's office," she deadpanned in a deadly whisper. "You _actually _brought me into Snape's office? What the heck, Natsume, this is so weird!"

Mikan threw her hands up in the air and turned around rapidly to glare at Natsume's prone figure that leaned against the door of Snape's office. His black hair hung messily around his face and she could see the faint outline of his eyes when he looked up from underneath his eyelashes. "We have to talk, Polka Dots."

"And cutting to the chase would suit me very well," Mikan tapped her foot, crossing her arms over her chest to peer at him mock-anxiously.

"You dumped me and I don't know _why_," he spoke in a deep whisper. "What did I do?"

She shifted carefully and felt ashamed when she looked at the broken look on his face. "If you don't know what you did then it's obvious I made the right decision when I—_eep_!"

She was pushed roughly against the wall and Natsume's head was leaned softly against her shoulder, hands once again on both sides of her body. "Natsume, what do you think you'r—"

"Are you _kidding _with me?" he whispered harshly. He lifted his head and red eyes blazed into hers with anger. "You _always _tell me what I do wrong and how do you expect me to fix things if you won't tell me?"

His eyes darkened considerably until a wry, humourless laugh escaped his lips. "Or are you making this difficult because you _don't _want me to make it up to you? Is that it? Do you like it better having flocks of boys at your beck and call or something?" he bit out roughly, dislodging one arm from the wall to run through his hair.

He leaned away and sat sprawled in the chair in front of Snape's desk before he looked up at her with confused eyes.

Mikan breathed shallowly and watched him perched precariously on the chair before she let her shoulders slump a little. "Natsume, you don't get it do you? This doesn't have anything to do with the other boys."

"Oh yeah?" he scowled bitterly. "Then why do you always have that _stupid_ smile on your face when they come up and ask you to make those water serpents or whatever else? The only thing that's changed since we got together is the amount of guys that pine after your attention. What was I supposed to think when you suddenly came up to me and said, '_It's not working out, Natsume'_?"

Her anger spiked. "The only reason why I have that _stupid _smile on my face is because it feels _good_ not having to worry about hiding my Alices for once. It was _killing _me for the past three years trying to hide it. Forgive me if being free makes me _happy_, Natsume," she scoffed in a deadly sneer. "And as for me breaking up with you, you're making it pretty damn hard to focus on my plans when you're pushing me against walls and whispering those _things _in my ear, so stop that and just wait out your surprise, dammit!"

His head jerked upward and he furrowed his brow in thought and Mikan couldn't help the rapid beat of her heart at the handsome look on his face. She sighed and ran a hand across her face in exasperation. "Trust you to ruin all of my plans, you bastard," she muttered softly, folding her arms across her chest.

"So this was all a stupid _joke_?" he muttered angrily. "You did this as a _joke_?"

"It wasn't a joke!" Mikan threw her hands up and then pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. "If you would just _remember_ the game that we agreed upon at the last ball, then you'd realize what an absolute _loser _you are!"

"Game?" Natsume asked, startled. "What game?"

Mikan scowled darkly and looked at the ceiling, as if to ask God why he was torturing her so. Then, pursing her lips into a thin line, she glowered, "The game where we were supposed to keep our identities a secret until a week before the Graduation Ball in which time we'd both go to the Great Lake and reveal ourselves—God, Natsume, you're hopeless!"

Natsume got to his feet and opted to lean against Snape's desk with both hands on its surface. Her anger spiked when she saw him roll his eyes at her.

"What's the point in the game when we already know who the other is and we've been going out for more than five months?" Natsume drawled blandly, scrutinizing her reaction.

She took two steps closer and stopped close enough to hiss, "I thought it'd be _romantic_, okay? For Kami's sake, you don't have a romantic bone in your body!"

"What's so romantic about _dumping _me days before the dance in cold blood?" Natsume asked in disbelief. He shook his head and tucked a hand into his pocket, never breaking eye contact with the Head Girl.

Mikan fiddled with the hem of her shirt before she blew up her cheeks and exhaled softly. "I was trying to surprise you…"

"Dumping me was surprise enough," he muttered under his breath.

"Well at least I'm _trying _to be romantic! All you do is… no wait – you don't do _anything _romantic!"

"That's not true," he defended with a frown. "I brought you lunch in bed one time when you were sick," he pointed out smugly.

"You didn't bring me lunch," Mikan hissed in a retort, "_Draco_ brought me lunch in bed and it was only because _McGonagall_ asked him to."

"I told him what to bring, didn't I? Your favorites."

"That's _not _romantic, Natsume. It would've been romantic if _you_ brought it on your own and spoon-fed me." Mikan pointed out with a frown on her face. She watched as a boyish grin lit up his face and couldn't help the roll of her eyes. This boy was hopeless.

"You have hands. You can spoon feed yourself."

"Oh, that just _proves _you're romantic, doesn't it?" Mikan stated mockingly. He shrugged and sat down in the chair in front of Snape's desk, once again and she walked over to sit on the desk he'd just vacated. "Whatever," she murmured, looking out the window. "I spent all that time trying to make the dance special and you just had to ruin everything."

"I'm not the one who spilled the beans," Natsume countered under his breath, watching her eyes sharpen with anger. Making her angry was too easy, he smirked.

"You don't know," Mikan hissed, low in her throat, "—how much I want to slap off that grin on your face. You are a selfish _jerk_! Sometimes I don't know how I can even _stand_ you!"

His jaw slackened and he could feel his ears ringing, watching her stand there. The migraine did nothing for his mood. Raising his eyes to level with her furious gaze, he shot back, "Oh and _you_ are just the _perfect_ girlfriend, aren't you?" he sneered. "I'm not perfect and I'm not afraid to admit it. I can't be the guy that you want," he said evenly, his voice soft. "I'm not going to start bringing you flowers and _spoon _feed you in bed. I won't pretend to be happy and let you change my clock's alarm to the Barney song and I can't—" he looked down, exhaling in frustration before he muttered, "I can't _change_."

Her heart was beating rapidly and Mikan was finding it hard to breathe. Her heart, it was just so… _full_, she wouldn't be surprised if it burst. She wanted to laugh but that feeling in her heart made her want to cry and she was surprised to hear her voice terribly soft in tone, "I never asked that of you."

"You said you wanted all of those things," Natsume replied stiffly. "I can't be one of your fanboys. You know I'm not like that but you're obviously unhappy with me if you want me to change so badly."

She felt the bubble of laughter that had been suppressed by the other onslaught of feelings and stared at him, "I want you. That's it. I don't need you to be anything more than that." She looked at the wall behind his head wistfully, "This," she waved her hand in between them, "—is only happening because I know you'll get bored. And don't say you won't, Natsume," she countered when he opened his mouth to retort. "I know the only reason you were interested in the first place is because I was wearing a mask and I was the epitome of that 'mysterious' girl that guys like so much but once that's over and done with, the chase is over Natsume. This," she pointed to herself, "—is the only thing I am. This is what you're stuck with and I have a hard time believing that's enough for you."

Natsume relaxed in the chair and stared at her blankly, his expression strangely affectionate. Sighing quietly, he reached forward and took her by the wrist, lifting her hand up in thought. "I don't know how long we'll… _stay_ like this," he said abruptly. "I don't know what will happen when we leave this place. I don't—can't predict the future but this," he held up her hand,"—right now, _this_ is more than enough."

She bit her lip. "But will it be enough for forever?"

He looked up to search her eyes, "I think this'll be enough for a long time."

And Mikan let a slow smile spread across her lips because that meant the same thing, for him, anyway.

_... __**a**__n__**d**__ t__**h**__e __**r**__e__**s**__t __**i**__s __**s**__t__**i**__l__**l**__ u__**n**__w__**r**__i__**t**__t__**e**__n..._

* * *

**Thank you for pushing me to finish this story!**

_crimsoneyes44, _**smarties101**_, YunaNeko, _**newsoul343**_, Olympiangirl, _**aysuki**_, Aery12,_ **.prince**_, froXenshadow,_ **My Dreamy Heart**_, Bubble55332,_ **vk-kuran**_, sternenhagel, _**rin03**_, My Desperate Soul in Love, _**angelakawaii**_, essierocks4eva, _**CuteAndCrazyAzn**_, BaybiiLexii, _**sweetiewriter4712**_, Sing4theRain,_ **Ida Sofie**_, GreyXCat94,_ **Seki Hime**_, It's. Defiance, _**ox**_-_**Chibiie**_, Nastusia is Miu,_ **xSilver ThunderX**_, storylover1234,_ **Kagome Kanoe**_, akerue,_ **night liker**_, IAmTheBattleMaiden, _**purexoredxorose**_, chris3169512, _**Lobaa**_, StarAngel02, _**Erilin**_-_**chin**_, insaneoneX,_ **Pathetic Rainbow**_, heya-gurl,_ **Heartbroken Confession**_, Azakura, _**Ichigo**_3, Youichiix33, _**FallenRaindrops**_, mystery-angel128, _**Ljserpent**_, Jasmini, _**FantasticFanpire**_, Rainy Day Pearl, _**SpringFairy15**_, HengHeng, _**k0nek0**_, Celine's Imagination, _**Serenade in Silence**_, Charmane, _**freedec12**_, Annaoj, _**hallioe**_, Cute Pukite,_ **Midnight Taiyou**_, 15385bic, _**QuickStar**_, xmiku,_ **Apple Bubblegum**_, tangerinegirl13, _**Chocokat95**_, xXbunnyholicXx, _**sunflower22**

I'll leave KokoSumire, HotaruRuka, AoiYouichi and HermioneDraco's **'supposed endings'** to your imagination.

_I guess this is goodbye. **So** how **about** a **review** for **old** time's** sake**?_

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_My Hopeless Romantic_

_Completed: January 10, 2009_


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